Bon Voyage Book
by junienmomo
Summary: A multi-chapter story starting after Sookie betrayed Luke's part in Rory's going away party. javajunkie
1. Bon Voyage Filled In

"This was all Luke." Sookie's words rang in Lorelai's ears, louder than the music, louder than the chattering people around her.

Lorelai's own words echoed in her brain, words that demonstrated her blindness: "Every time I'm vulnerable or I say something or do something like the song, he doesn't do anything." Wrong, so wrong. Luke was constantly doing things, showing that his feelings were far beyond those of a friend.

He took her car shopping, yes, but more than that, he spent the rest of the day finding the car of her dreams, and insisted on tuning up her bike, and adding the horn. The blue cap he wore constantly, giving up the comfortable fabric tab of his brown cap for the hard plastic of the blue cap she gave him. He wore that cap all those years, and as soon as their friendship had returned, so did the blue cap. He went out of his way to give Rory a graduation gift when he wasn't even invited to the celebration. The look he gave her during the karaoke. He saw something in her eyes, heard something in her voice. What was her response? What did she say in the diner when Babette and Patty discussed the song? "It didn't mean anything." He must have overheard, no wonder he was annoyed. She had been blind to these demonstrations of his love and caring.

Rory's party was his biggest gesture yet. This gesture she would not ignore. This time it must be acknowledged, and done properly. Her heart beat faster, hoping for more. "Perhaps he had done this for her," a voice whispered in her head.

She glanced over towards the grill. No Luke. Seeing movement in the diner, she crossed the street just in time to meet Luke carrying a bag of charcoal.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Exhale. Breathe. Say what needs to be said.

"Thank you."

"Oh, it's … no big deal." Puffing his chest up a little, his pride was evident even as he dismissed this effort as nonchalantly as he did the chuppah.

Struggling to get any word out, her eyes began to shine with the emotion she could not express. "Luke."

He explained, "I just like to see you happy." Relieved to see the look in Lorelai's eyes, Luke smiled, his eyes softened which gave Lorelai the message she wanted to receive. They kissed.

"Come with me, it's too noisy out here," he said, and guided Lorelai into the darkened diner.

Once inside, they climbed the stairs to Luke's apartment. Closing the door, Lorelai turned to kiss Luke again, this time a kiss of reassurance, which Luke deepened into a more passionate embrace. Hiccuping sounds from Lorelai soon caused Luke to lift his head and look at her.

One arm around her waist, he placed his hand behind her head and looked into her eyes. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she held onto his shirt while she fought to gain control.

"Lorelai, my heart, what's wrong?" Luke began. "It's OK, it's OK."

"There's so much I didn't see, what you did for me, for Rory, for the three of us as a family, how could I have …" she broke off as he embraced her more closely.

"This is not the time for any of that; we made it through those dark days. We're moving forward now. We can have our middle," Luke said, caressing her hair as she slowly calmed down. They stood together, just holding each other, letting their heartbeats return to normal.

"You remember our middle?" Lorelai asked

"I remember our middle. I remember our beginning. I remember what it was like to hold you for the very first time." Luke took a halting breath. "I remember what it was like to hold you the last time. I remember the emptiness afterward. I remember."

Lorelai reached up and kissed Luke deeply, her desire to comfort him strong. "Remember this kiss now, remember it forever, it's the start of our middle."

Both weak in the knees from the emotion, they settled on Luke's familiar leather couch. The box poked Luke in the leg, and he reached into his pocket and removed it.

"I'd hoped to give this to you when I saw you again after the karaoke, but it didn't work out. It's…"

Lorelai interrupted him, speaking quickly. "Sorry, I'm so sorry, Luke, that day in the diner. Miss Patty and Babette were there, pushing me about the song. I blurted out the first thing I could think of to protect myself. Do you know Babette told me to go on upstairs?"

"Good for Babette, I wish you had come upstairs, we could have …" Luke started, but was again interrupted by Lorelai.

"The song was for you. It was real. It started out as a joke for Rory, but when I saw you, I, I, ... you mesmerized me. I couldn't stop." Lorelai let herself feel that moment again. She reached up and removed Luke's cap, twining her fingers in his hair, so short now, but still as soft as silk. She touched his mouth with her thumb, moved to caress his cheek, where the stubble, already growing long, betrayed how long he'd worked to make Rory's party a reality. Had he gotten any sleep at all in the past two days?

"I couldn't breathe; with your song you broke open a steel band that had choked my heart until I was hardly alive." With a small tremor in his hands, Luke opened the box and took out the necklace. As Lorelai reached to touch it, their fingers came together. The chain tangled, locking Luke's fingers to Lorelai's. Only when they clasped hands, palm to palm, did the chain release its captives.

Lorelai smiled, "It's beautiful."

"It's you," replied Luke.

Lorelai removed the gold necklace she was wearing and laid it on the table.

Luke opened the clasp of the necklace with the blue stones, moved Lorelai's hair to the side and closed the necklace around her neck. He bent down and dropped soft kisses along the back of her neck, causing Lorelai to shudder with excitement. He kissed the lace on her shirt, each tiny heart, one by one. She curved her back and leaned into him, reaching up and putting her hands around his neck. She moaned softly, arching her back even further.

Luke put his arms around Lorelai's waist, sliding his hands underneath her shirt, feeling the softness of her skin. His hands moved up slowly over her ribs, under the elastic of her top, cupping the bottoms of her breasts. She turned to face him and they pressed close together, her arms around his waist, his hands in her hair, kissing softly at first, then with increasing passion. Their lips parted and their tongues curved around one another, fueling the fire.

They stepped apart, breathing heavily.

"Do you want this, Luke?" asked Lorelai softly. He stepped forward, hands outstretched, then thought better of it and stepped back.

"Yes, oh dear God, yes!" he replied, his abdomen contracting with desire. "But only if it's right for you. Do you want to be with me?"

Lorelai groaned and practically threw herself on him. "Yes, Luke, it's all that I want. You, right now, making love to me."

They rushed to the bed, stripping their clothes off as they moved. There was no time to waste, nothing mattered but being once again connected in that most intimate of ways, feeling themselves whole again.

At the foot of the bed, they stopped. They were naked, their bodies and hearts were laid open, and there were no barriers between them. They trembled with desire and uncertainty.

Silently Lorelai took Luke's hand and guided him to the center of the bed, lying on his side, his left arm stretched above his head, his right arm lying at his side. Lorelai laid herself on the bed facing him, bodies just inches apart. Only their breath mingled.

The need and desire that Lorelai saw in Luke's eyes was unfathomable, yet he saw the same in her. Lying so close but not touching, they began by mirroring each other's actions: Lorelai's fingers light as a feather touching Luke's forehead, then his temples, gliding tenderly across his eyelashes, him kissing her fingers as they explored his mouth, finally resting on the pulse at the base of his neck. Luke followed her motions, step by step, until their arms crossed. They moved closer, not quite touching, just feeling the heat of the other's body.

They took turns kissing the other's necks, sliding down to the nipples, sucking, squeezing, moving faster until their bodies arched with desire. Luke's right hand clasped Lorelai's left and held it to his heart. They moved their hands lower, caressed the sensitive areas around their lover's hips, their legs touching gently at first, and then tangling together as the urge took over.

Lorelai fully closed the gap between her and Luke, who groaned as he felt her lower body meet his. She turned onto her back, pulling him on top of her. He braced himself with one arm, his legs between hers, and looked into her eyes. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, whispering, "Now. Fill me. Love me. I've felt so empty for so long."

He moved slowly, watching every emotion flashing across her face. She opened her center to him and he pressed against her soft folds, and then moved deeper. Lorelai curved her hips upward involuntarily, turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. "Yes, Luke, yes, I love you, please don't let this end."

Overcome with emotion, Luke buried his face in her hair as his eyes became moist. "Lorelai," was all he could say, and even that came out from deep in his throat. He felt her heat, the soft skin enveloping him and knew he was home again. Raising his head to look her in the eyes again, he reassured her, "This is where we belong."

Luke's mouth covered Lorelai's, tongues darting in a dance of passion. At their center, they slowly began moving against each other, searching for that familiar rhythm, kissing and caressing every sensitive spot they could find. Luke began to move faster as Lorelai clutched his shoulders and strained for her release.

"Luke" she whispered desperately as his body rubbed against her clit, building the tension even higher. He began thrusting vigorously, calling "Lorelai!" in a rasping voice. She peaked, clamping down on him as he thrust even faster. Lorelai's spasms continued as Luke reached the top, shuddering as he gave in to her squeezing.

Panting and sweating, they collapsed together on the bed, still connected. Luke leaned on one elbow while he kissed Lorelai over and over again, caressing her hair, smoothing it back against her head, telling her he loved her over and over. Lorelai looked into Luke's eyes and answered every "I love you" with one of her own.

Exhausted and fully spent, Luke fell onto his back, sighing with happiness. Lorelai traced an imaginary line from Luke's belly button downward, searching out those places she knew would cause him to jump when she touched them, the afterglow of his orgasm. "Aaah!" he cried with a swift intake of breath as she found a spot. It was a tender, sweet agony. Moments later, the spot had moved and she laughed her Lorelai laugh as she found it again. Luke took revenge by kissing her still-throbbing clit, which caused her to press her knees together, reliving the moment. They wrestled, laughing, kissing, and enjoying the loving torture. Finally they collapsed on the bed in each other's arms and rested.

"Lorelai." Luke brushed the hair out of her eyes and shifted her to rest her head on a pillow he placed on his lap. He idly rubbed her temple with his fingers, first catching a lock of hair, then letting it escape through his fingers.

"Mmm?" Lorelai was watching his chest rise and fall with each breath.

"I don't need any more time. I'm sure it's right. Us. Now. Everything." He looked straight into her eyes, and Lorelai saw that he meant it.

"What about you, Lorelai?"

She felt her chest tighten. Was it fear? Was she the one who wasn't sure? Was she not ready this time? She closed her eyes and listened to her heart. A storm of memories flew around inside her head.

The chuppah. Luke taking Paul Anka to the vet late at night. "I just like to see you happy." The sound of his voice on the phone during those seven weeks they were separated. Rory's birthday parties, their dinners at Luke's, his soft "You do," as he told her he'll always be in her life.

Fixing the porch. Gluing Gilbert. The fights over Jess. Danish Day. His throaty "Yes" to her proposal. Rory as Pippi. Even those damn paint chips. The kiss. The other kiss. "I already told you that I already told you you can do this." My own cheesecake. Clothes shopping for Luke. Luke choosing my favorite outfits. The Twickham house. Kids and plants. His dark day. The horoscope.

Waltzing with Luke. The reconciliation date. Having a spat with a spatula. The only time he ever bought flowers. Painting the diner. Keeping her from killing Dean when he gave Rory her first kiss. The green dress. Luke in her bed. Luke in her heart.

A single tear slipped sideways out of her eyes.

"Lorelai? Are you asleep? Did you hear me?" Luke said with a touch of tension in his voice.

Her eyes fluttered open and met Luke's. "Name the day. I'm in. I'm all in."


	2. A Tough Choice

Luke brought the plates over to the table.

"Eggs, bacon, hash browns times two, pancakes times two, fruit cup times two, oatmeal times one." He pulled up a chair and sat very close to Lorelai, reaching under the table to put his hand on her knee. She dropped her hand to cover his and squeezed it.

"Two fruit cups? Going a little wild, aren't you?" Lorelai quipped.

"One is for you. It's about time you started doing me some favors, and it starts with staying alive long enough to sit with me on the front porch and watch Rory's kids playing." He looked at her with a slight challenge in his eyes and a smile on his face.

Rory chuckled. "Mom, I think you've got your hands full this time. So Luke, I'm guessing it's not a coincidence that the beautiful earrings you gave me look like they came from the same jeweler as Mom's new necklace?"

"Well, yeah, when your sister makes them, it's pretty easy to get exactly what you want. Liz made the necklace specifically with Lorelai in mind," said Luke as he reached over to Lorelai's plate and took a bite of her pancakes. "Here, now you." Luke took a piece of fruit and a piece of pancake and offered it to Lorelai. She sniffed and turned her head, peeking back to see Luke's reaction.

His gaze remained steady. Rory watched the scene with one eyebrow raised, trying to guess who would win this one. Her mother was normally the undisputed champion, but this moment seemed different. Lorelai flashed her impish look at Luke and took the fork from his hand, dipped the pancake in syrup and ate both fruit and pancake. "You know this is going to cost you a town meeting, my friend." She took revenge by kissing Luke while she still had syrup on her lips. "Geez, stop it, next thing I know you'll have jam hands," he countered, wiping the syrup off with a napkin.

"You two were gone for quite a while last night," Rory commented, "looks like you've been making plans for the 'after the Bon Voyage party' party, eh?" She dug into her breakfast with a healthy appetite.

Luke looked at Lorelai, shifted in his seat and cleared his throat.

"Um, yeah, I guess so. Rory, we need to talk. Obviously your mom and I are back together, you've figured that out, right?" he said.

Rory's eyes sparkled with laughter. "Not just me. Quite a few other people in town have ascertained that as well, Luke. You guys were kinda obvious, you know, wandering around the party with those goofy smiles on your faces. Mom filled me in on the details last night on the way home."

Lorelai made a goofy lovesick face at Luke, who looked away, saying, "Sheesh."

"Miss Patty was the first to get hold of me," said Lorelai, "I thought I was going to suffocate in her hug."

"I didn't notice anything," said Luke. "Just kept cooking burgers and dogs. Caesar did annoy me for a while with his winking and nudging, come to think of it. Hmmph. Maybe that was what he meant when he told me to sleep as late as I wanted tomorrow."

"Anyway, Rory, stop distracting me." he continued, "We have to talk. It's clear that you have no time off for the foreseeable future, and I don't have a foreseeable future without Lorelai as my wife." Lorelai's eyes shone as she put her hand on Luke's forearm.

"For a wedding, though, we also have to consider April's schedule, and even keep Jess in mind. It's just not possible at the moment to get all of you together in one place at one time," said Lorelai. "So we've decided to elope, and have the party when you can all be here with us."

Rory looked away, blinking hard, fighting tears. Lorelai whispered, "Oh hon, do you need us to wait until you can go with us?" her voice choking. Luke, distressed, reached out to both of his Gilmore girls at once.

"No, no, wait!" cried Rory. "That's not what I meant at all!" She wiped the tears from her eyes and tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear before she continued.

"Two years ago, I put you both through Hell when I quit school. I can't say what took hold of me, but I couldn't see straight, and I ran right into a brick wall. It was a horrible time, and I missed you most of all, Mom."

Lorelai was openly crying, Luke put his arm around her and stared briefly at the ground, collecting his emotions.

"You were engaged, but my stupidity made it impossible for you to get married. Your house was ready, your wedding was planned, you were so happy. When I finally came to my senses, and was back in school, I saw what I had done to you both. You wouldn't get married because I wasn't there, then the moment slipped away. I let you down horribly, all because I was too weak to accept criticism."

"Rory, it wasn't you, it was that Mitchum Huntzberger," started Lorelai, but Rory interrupted her.

"No Mom, he was just a tiny factor. After all these years of working hard, studying, giving my all to become a journalist, I folded like a wet origami cup as soon as someone criticized me. You gave me everything, and taught me to never give up, Mom, but I gave up. Luke, you listened to me when no one else could hear what I was saying. You gave me a safe place to come when Mom was working, a table to study on, and a wry comment when I was frustrated. But that summer two years ago, when you two needed me to be there, I wasn't." Rory paused, took a deep breath and pressed on.

"Let me give you a wedding gift. It will never make up for the hurt, or the time you lost, but it can give you the time you need right now. Elope, have a wedding, do what you need to do for your happiness right now. Don't wait for me, don't plan on me, but do keep me informed of every detail. If there's any possibility to be there, I will be there. I love you both too much to let you sacrifice any more for me."

"But Rory, I want you there! We want you there!" Lorelai said. "It wasn't…"

Rory interrupted her. "No dice, Mom. We made up my 21st birthday; we will make this up somehow too. How about a 'wedding re-enactment' in Las Vegas, or some place on the campaign trail? Maybe with a Star Trek theme?" She giggled at the thought of Luke and Lorelai in Star Trek costumes. "Do you still have your shirt, Luke? Does it still fit?"

Luke's face turned red, but before he could utter a response, Lorelai pealed with laughter. "Kirk as Captain Kirk! A Starship chapel! Paul Anka as a Tribble!" Luke could not hold his demeanor any longer and burst out laughing too.

"OK, OK, you win. We will factor you in, but we won't plan it around your availability." Lorelai sighed, not completely happy, but satisfied that they had reached the best possible compromise. The emotions threatened to overwhelm her. Her baby bird Rory was taking off on her first big flight and Luke, the missing piece of her heart, was coming home with her to stay forever.

They finished breakfast, chatting, sharing wedding ideas, sharing jokes only a family can share.

"You've got to use Grandma's tiara, Mom. When she dolled me up for the Yale meat market party, I looked like a princess, and you will too."

"Don't forget that she also predicted my bouquet would be a ketchup dispenser, and my reception would be right here. " Turning to Luke, Lorelai said, "That's the second time she predicted us being together. I thought she was going to re-enact a Romanov wedding. Hmm, maybe Luke can make an onion ring bouquet."

"It's getting time to go to the airport, isn't it?" asked Luke, moving the dishes to the kitchen. "Let's move your things to my truck. I'll drive you, and then Lorelai and I will see you off."

At the airport, Luke dropped them off and drove off to park the car. Rory checked in, and then she and Lorelai grabbed coffees and a tea and wandered in the direction of Security.

"Magazines, both serious and frivolous?"

"Check"

"Gum for the candidate?"

"Forget it, no fanny pack, no gum, no gum buddies."

"Your phone is charged? Time for a selfie?" The two made silly faces for the camera, not noticing that Luke had come up behind them.

"Got a spot for me in there somewhere?" he said, putting his arms around their shoulders. "Make sure you get my good side."

"I'm your good side, Luke" said Rory, striking a model's pose.  
>"No, I'm your good side!" countered Lorelai.<p>

"Ah, the work! Will you two never understand that you're just my backup dancers?" Luke laughed. They piled on top of him, knocking his hat off, giggling and kissing him. When they started tickling, he broke away, saying "Enough! You win!"

"Now, time for some serious photos," Rory said. "First the two of you."

"Now me and Mom"

"Me and Luke"

"Me and the baseball cap"

"Mom and the baseball cap"

"Just the baseball cap"

"Give me my cap back!"

"No! Not until we have one of you without the cap!"

Luke smiled for Rory, and then pulled Lorelai in for a big kiss.

Lorelai pulled his cap onto her head and kissed Luke again.

The first call for Rory's flight was announced. The line at Security wasn't long, but she gathered her things and turned to Luke first.

"Bye Luke, take good care of her. I need her in one piece for the Star Trek wedding re-enactment."

"No Star Trek wedding. Bye, kid. I love you. And yes, I will take good care of her."

Rory turned toward Lorelai and held her tightly.

"You're sure you don't want a fanny pack? I can send you the lime green one." Lorelai's tears threatened to spill over.

"Mom, no fanny pack. I do want one more thing, though. " Lorelai, taken off guard, forgot her tears and turned back into Mom.

"Your forgiveness. " Both Lorelai and Luke looked puzzled.

"For what? There's nothing to forgive. We're good."

"For stealing your orange sweater, and your striped mini skirt. They're in my bag, and you're not getting them back! Ha Ha!" She hugged and kissed her mother one last time and moved to Security.

"I'm OK with the sweater, but I want that skirt back! Send it in the next mail, young lady, or I will mail you a glow in the dark fanny pack. In a clear package, so everyone can see! You won't be just Fanny Pack Girl, you'll be Glowy Fanny Pack Girl! Everyone will see you miles away!" shouted Lorelai.

Lorelai's hands fell to her side as Rory focused on the security protocol. Luke came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. He could feel her stiffen as the emotion took over, and he pulled her tighter yet.

She crossed her arms, grasping Luke's elbows and held on as if she were about to fall. He nuzzled her hair, murmuring soft words of consolation. They watched as Rory crossed through the scanner, gathered her shoes and put them back on. She grabbed her bags and jacket, turned to them and waved.

Simultaneously Luke and Lorelai raised their hands in response, not waving, just open palms. Rory turned and moved toward her gate.

Silent, Lorelai held her breath, almost willing Rory to come back and change her mind.

"Congratulations. You did it," whispered Luke in her ear.

"Well, I don't feel like celebrating," said Lorelai. "Wait. Congratulations for what?" She turned to face Luke, not letting him go.

"The biggest achievement of your life. You've succeeded beyond your wildest dreams. Your child, healthy, happy and whole, is on her way to the life she wants to build for herself."

"Really? Is that how you see it? It sure hurts a lot."

"That's part of the journey. She's tied like a ribbon to your heart, you take care of her, teach her to be strong and resilient, help her to survive life's disappointments, and at the end, that ribbon stretches, pulling on your heart, until you feel it will tear you to shreds. But it doesn't, it stretches until it seems to be invisible, until you doubt that the ribbon is even still there, but it remains."

Lorelai knew that Luke's heart had its own tie to Rory, but he wasn't speaking only about her, but also about his daughter, on the other side of the country, who had stretched their ribbon in the same painful way.

"Do you understand what I mean? It's a painful victory, but it's a victory nonetheless." Luke kissed Lorelai's hair, her face, and then finally her lips. When she responded he knew she felt the victory as well as the pain.

They stood together for a long moment. "Now, are you up for a bit of a surprise? I've got something special planned."


	3. Room Service

"Surprise?" Lorelai smiled as they climbed into the truck.  
>"Just a small one. We have a gift from Sookie. She's giving us time. I spoke to her late yesterday, and she says to take some time off. She's got both the inn and Paul Anka covered."<br>"We'll go home, then, so we can be bombarded by the town? "  
>"Nope, told Caesar I was going fishing, which got me another wink and a nudge, and I called in a couple of favors, so the party will be all cleaned up today. We can do whatever we want, and since we've both been awake almost constantly since you told us about Rory's job, I thought we'd start right here. "<br>Luke pulled into an airport hotel and parked. He grabbed a small duffel bag out of the back and they headed into the hotel.  
>A few minutes later, they were in their room, a quiet suite with good soundproofing to eliminate any airport noise. He dropped the bag on the end of the bed and turned to Lorelai.<br>"Now, we can stay as long as you like, just a few hours, a night, or longer. How about some room service?"  
>"Mmmm, yes, I'll take a big cup of Luke, followed by a baseball cap dessert, and spread it all out on that nice large bed." She kissed him sweetly. "Rory won't call tonight until she's settled at the hotel, since someone is meeting her at the airport. "<br>"Good point," Luke said. "I did give her a heads up that we might not always have our phones on, but it wouldn't be because anything was wrong. She said she wouldn't worry, and that you shouldn't worry either." He swayed Lorelai gently back and forth, almost as if they were dancing, twirling her hair around his finger.  
>"Now get serious about that room service, Lorelai. Is there anything special you want? If not, I'll order some coffee and tea, and a small snack that will keep until we're ready to eat. You just empty out the bag there and see if there's anything you need that I didn't pack." He gave her a friendly push towards the duffle bag.<br>"I do have one request," said Luke. "Cell phones off, OK? We'll catch up with everyone else in a few hours."  
>"Agreed," said Lorelai. "Here's mine. Power off."<br>"Mine, too. Off." Luke took the phones and put them into a drawer at the desk.  
>Lorelai wandered over to the window and looked out at the airport, rubbing her lower arms. Rory's plane had taken off by this time and she was on her way to her first investigative journalism job. That was something to be proud of, she thought, and not only Rory should be proud, but me too.<p>

She took a deep relaxing breath. It felt nice to be taken care of, and nice to have time to rest, and think, and just be with Luke.  
>Luke. A year since they broke up, and those lonely months before, it had been such a dark time. Those dark months were finally over. Lorelai rubbed her eyes and yawned, happy, but tired.<p>

Clouds rolled in and Lorelai could see the rain falling as the sky turned a soft gray. She looked at Luke's reflection in the glass as he talked to Room Service on the phone. Sitting on the bed, he was facing away from her, wearing a dark gray T-shirt and jeans. He finished the call, stood up and turned towards Lorelai. He glanced at her, hesitated, reconsidered, went instead into the bathroom. "She looks deep in thought," he observed as he poured a glass of water and drank, taking a moment to notice his own face.

The sadness around his eyes that Liz had referred to the last time she visited was gone. He was definitely sleep-deprived, but it had been worth every minute to know that Rory had a proper send-off. That's just what you do for family.

Lorelai's laugh penetrated the door, familiar and happy. He finished his water, refilled the glass and returned to find Lorelai sorting through the things he'd packed.

She'd already put on her favorite blue and white flannel shirt, held a light brown plaid flannel up to her nose, unsuccessfully trying to detect Luke's familiar scent in the freshly-washed garment.

Lorelai had left him so suddenly that she had never come by to pick up the many items she left at his apartment. After a long while he put them all into a box, planning to drop them off at her house one day, but he could never bring himself to do it. It reminded him briefly of the items Rachel had left behind, with one important difference: he'd never pined for Rachel.

Lorelai twirled over to him as he exited the bathroom, waving the brown flannel shirt and posing in the other.

"Your blue and white flannel, my favorite! You remembered!"

She went back to the pile of clothing on the bed and chattered on, "Oh! I'd forgotten I had this," then "I'd been looking for this." She started to twirl again until Luke grabbed her waist and stopped her mid-spin, pulling her masterfully to him.

"Sounds like you have what you need, then?" he said with the deep voice that communicated his arousal.

She lassoed him with the shirt she was holding and smiled wickedly. "I got what I needed last night, thanks. And I do mean the dirty part, there's also that huge hole in my heart which you finally repaired. Everything else is just the cherry on top." Using her flannel lasso she pulled him backwards hard, tumbling onto the bed. He laughed, breaking his fall with his arms so he didn't crush her and began kissing her hungrily.

Lorelai pulled the brown plaid shirt over both their heads as a tent and returned his passion, kiss for kiss. Luke opened the blue flannel shirt exposing her form-fitting dark blue shirt, which was no barrier for the heat of his mouth as he edged closer to her breast. Lorelai's arousal was visible through both her bra and the thin cotton of the shirt. He surrounded her right nipple with his mouth and slid his left hand under the shirt to cup her left breast, squeezing gently. He moved his hand to the center of her bra and opened the clasp, and Lorelai's breasts moved freely, her nipples beading.

Barely able to breathe inside their flannel "tent," Lorelai tossed it aside. She sat up just enough to pull her shirt off and discarded both the dark blue shirt and the bra. Luke's mouth was now free to roam her chest. Suckling each nipple in turn, he felt Lorelai arch up as the spark he ignited in her breast shot its way down to her center. She lay back down on the blue flannel, panting, waiting for his next touch.

Softer than a feather, Luke held a fingertip just above each nipple, carefully avoiding direct contact except right at the tip. Her nipples seemed to reach up to him, striving to connect, to feel that electricity again. He wet his fingers and came closer, rubbing just the highest peak of each nipple, causing Lorelai to writhe with pleasure.

She reached her hands over Luke's shoulders to his back, grabbing his T-shirt and pulling it over his head. He straightened his arms just long enough to let her remove his shirt, abandoning her nipples. He dropped tiny kisses, licks and nips starting at her belly button and moving in a slow curve down to her hips. Lorelai drew her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp gently, trailing her fingertips along the backs of his ears, tugging on his earlobes, and then gliding her fingers back up to the soft hairs just behind his ears. Luke groaned at her almost ethereal touch. She tilted his chin up to face her and saw the raw desire in his eyes. "I want you so much. I love you, Lorelai."

The sound came sharp and clear: Tap! Tap! Tap! followed by a nondescript voice announcing "Room Service!"

Luke and Lorelai collapsed on the bed, still breathing hard.

"You go," she said.

"No, you. I can't be seen in this state, Lorelai." She stared down at his jeans and the party going on inside them. He unbuttoned them to help relieve the pressure.

"Good point. Ooh, dirty!" and she chuckled at her own joke. She grabbed the blue flannel shirt and buttoned a couple of strategic points as Luke made a beeline for the bathroom. The Room Service guy knocked again. "Coming!" she called, and muttered under her breath, "Or at least I would have been if you'd only come a few minutes later."

Scanning the room to make sure there were no major embarrassments waiting for the guy, she walked over and opened the door.

"Danes, room 1416?" he asked.

"Yes, please put the cart over there. We'll eat at the table in the corner."

Room Service Guy moved quickly to put the food and drinks in their proper place, opened the bottled water and made sure everything looked just right. After she signed the bill, he wished Ms. Danes a good afternoon, appreciatively accepting the large tip she gave him and was gone.

Lorelai began picking at the food and poured herself a cup of coffee. Checking the temperature of the tea water, she dropped a bag into the pot for Luke. In the bathroom Luke had removed his jeans and clad only in his boxers he came over to her and kissed her deeply. "What now?" he asked.

"Would you mind very much if we had something to drink first? I promise I won't forget where we left off." She looked at him through her eyelashes as she peered over the top of her china cup.

"Well, since you already started my tea for me, I think we can take a little break," Luke replied.

She settled into the armchair near the bed. Lorelai drew her legs up underneath her as she sipped her coffee. Luke looked at the tray and said, "Hmm. No ice. A little ice in that water would be good."

"Oh, I'll go while you check your tea to make sure it's not too strong," said Lorelai. She grabbed the room key card and the ice bucket and headed down the hall. Luke took a spot on the bed so he could be close to Lorelai's chair.

"Sauntering down the hall in the middle of the afternoon on a workday, what a luxurious feeling," Lorelai said to herself. She turned right at the first opportunity, following the signs to the ice machine. "Damn," she thought, "this one's broken. Where's the next machine?"

The sign indicated the next machine was two floors down. She waited a moment for the elevator, rode down, got the ice for Luke, and headed back up to her floor. She hopped off the elevator and retraced her steps. As she turned left, she realized that she didn't remember which room number they had. The key card was blank except for a code number.

"Oh well, nothing to do but guess. I think it's about halfway down, and I know it's on the right side."

Sliding her card into slot after slot, she saw nothing but red LEDs blinking. "Luuuke, where are you?" she sing-songed, hoping he might hear her. Nothing.

She slid the card into the slot on the next door, then heard footsteps on the other side. "Goody! This must be it. He did hear me!" She put her most sparkling smile on her face and waited.

The door opened and a Japanese businessman stood there instead of Luke. "Oh! Good morning, how are you?" she asked, her sparkle turning to her polite hotel manager smile.

He made a small bow. "Fine, thank you. Can I help you?"

"Well, I just wanted to ask if everything was satisfactory. Do you have everything you need? Perhaps some ice?" She bowed in return and offered the ice bucket.

"Yes, yes. Good. Thank you very much. No ice, please." He bowed again, she bowed again and Lorelai slowly pulled the door closed.

Finally the sixth try opened the door to her room, but there her luck ended. Luke was still waiting for her on the bed next to her armchair, but he was fast asleep.

"Poor baby, up for 48 hours, I think I'd better let him rest."

She moved the rest of the clothes off the bed, stretched his legs out to make him more comfortable and laid the extra blanket over him. He grunted a little, mumbled, "Want you, love you…" and fell silent again.

"Oh honey, don't worry, I know you tried. We'll make it up later," she said, caressing his face.

Lorelai pulled the curtains closed, making the room a little darker. She scooted the armchair closer to the bed and tucked her feet under his blanket.

As she sipped her coffee, she remembered the early nights they shared, him falling asleep at 9:30 in the evening, her watching Charlie Rose and Jon Stewart just loud enough to hear, but not so loud as to wake him, which he never did anyway. When he was gone, he was gone. What had Rory said? "A person who will easily sleep in your presence trusts you implicitly." She hoped he trusted her again.

Luke's face, which she had seen so rarely over the past year, had almost always been filled with either anger or stress when they encountered each other on the street. It pained her heart to think of those terrible moments, but she looked now and saw a more relaxed Luke, not on guard against her, but with her.

Finishing her coffee, she got into bed on the other side, crawling under the comforter and putting her arm around him. She'd only had a few more hours sleep than he had, because she hadn't wanted to waste a moment of mother-daughter time. Time to rest now.


	4. Kayak

Luke awoke with a start. The room was dark, but it couldn't be night yet, he conjectured, at least he hoped he hadn't slept that long. He looked down at Lorelai, sleeping beside him. He padded off to the bathroom and returned shortly thereafter, this time with his sweatpants on. He tossed the blanket aside and crawled under the comforter with Lorelai. Slowly and softly, he slid his arm under her head and snuggled up against her.

"A little more sleep won't hurt," he thought, glad to see Lorelai so relaxed and peaceful. She was looking drawn and tired, with dark circles under her eyes. It must have been a long journey back through the wormhole that brought the two of them back together.

"Humph, Liz and her space-time continuum theories. Odd," he pondered as he fell back to sleep.

"Luke, are you awake? You were talking, but I couldn't understand a word." Lorelai stroked his face, running her finger along his eyebrows.

"Aahm, unh," was all Luke said. Lorelai leaned closer and touched Luke's eyelashes, which caused him to jerk suddenly and turn his head. She gave a throaty chuckle as she looked into his sleepy eyes.

"I'm hungry, darling. Let's talk food." Lorelai rested her chin on his shoulder as Luke began to gain consciousness. Groggy, he looked at her through sleepy eyes.

"Food? OK, got it. Food. Ow! That hurts!" Luke grimaced as Lorelai poked her chin into the muscle. He sat up, rubbing the spot. "I think you bruised me!"

"Oh my poor baby, shall I kiss it and make it all better?" She began kissing his arm, nibbling at it as well.

"Geez! You really are hungry! C'mon, let's go before I have to increase my security detail." Luke flipped her over and swatted her butt before getting out of bed.

Pulling several shirts out of the stack, he flipped through them without choosing one. Uncertain, he paused and said, "Lorelai, what do you think if we go to Sniffy's? I'd love for you to see them again. They, uh, they've been looking out for me this past year, and I think it would be, um, nice to invite them to the wedding personally."

Lorelai went over to Luke and took the shirts out of his hands, looked at the pants he'd chosen, and selected a shirt for him. "Luke, that would be great. I missed our visits there. It's really good that you feel comfortable enough to want to take me there again." She gave his chin a fleeting kiss.

"Great, I'll give Buddy a call so he stays open for us. It's a bit of a drive." Luke goes to the desk and pulls out the cell phones. "Here, why don't you give Rory a call and see how she's doing?"

Lorelai, trying to choose between a slender dress and a dark red skirt, looked up as Luke tossed her phone at her and ducked. It landed safely on the bed. "I don't catch things!" she hissed theatrically.

Luke gave her a wry look and said, "Tell me about it. Wear the skirt."

Dialing Rory's number, it went straight to voicemail. She left a short message, and then hung up. In the background, she could hear Luke's discussion.

"Maisy, really, it's good." Pause. "No, that's in the past, we've worked through it. You'll see." Pause. "OK, I'll talk to you again soon. Bye."

Luke straightened up and turned to Lorelai. "We're good. Buddy is manning the kitchen tonight. Maisy's going home, but the restaurant will be closed by the time we get there anyway. Ready?"

"Sure." Lorelai took a second glance at Luke's face as the left the room, but his expression was indecipherable.

They drove the first minutes in silence. Eventually Luke broke the silence.

"Yeah, um, Lorelai, Maisy's not so excited about our news."

Lorelai looked out the window briefly, and then asked, "Ah. What is she worried about?"

"Mostly she is worried about me, that it might not work out. I wasn't very good company for them last year."

"Oh. Great. Another Emily Gilmore?" asked Lorelai, crestfallen.

"No, of course not. You've met her, you know her. Buddy said he'll make it right before we get there. I just want you to not be surprised. Maisy does have a tendency to speak her mind."

"Yes, I remember the first time you took me there. Sniffy's has a tarty history. So cute." Lorelai spoke a little too brightly, her tension coming out in her voice.

"Don't take this too seriously, Lorelai. Maisy generally has to speak her mind, and then she's back to normal. She knows this is our decision. You should have heard how she talked to me over the years, lecturing me about this and that."

"Well, people do change. Mom's and my relationship has improved over the past few months. We're even going to continue Friday Night Dinners, and we generally have good conversation. Especially after Dad's heart attack, she has really worked to understand my life. "

"Oh, by the way," Lorelai continued, "that means we'll be meeting them regularly. We need to start thinking about how to build a relationship with them as a couple. Want to go to the Gilmores for dinner on Friday?"

"Sure, yeah, I guess. Actually no, wow, that's great, Lorelai," said Luke, still processing her statement that they are getting along. "That's a big change. What happened?"

"At first she really pushed Christopher on me, but even she eventually realized that it wasn't working out. When I finally told her we'd broken up, she didn't have anything at all to say. Later she did call me a kayak."

"A kayak? Seriously? What did she mean? That's probably still better than the time she called me an idiot. Actually she called us both idiots. Have to say she was right on that one."

"Amen, sisterfriend. Long story, but her point was, she was proud of me for taking care of myself, being independent. She compared it to her and Dad being in a canoe, when one stopped paddling, the boat just went in circles."

"Was it weird or amazing to hear that?" asked Luke.

"Both, actually. She even said she hopes I'll marry someone else someday."

"Well, let's try to not disappoint her, OK?" asked Luke, pulling Lorelai closer and giving her a kiss as they drove.

Lorelai's phone rang. "Rory! Hi! How was your day, sweets?"

"Great, Mom. Almost as soon as I left the plane I had to go to an event. It was a meet-and-greet for some of the new reporters. We got to know a couple of press liaisons and see the schedule for the next few weeks. It's so busy. If we're not at an event, we're driving to one, or someone wants to talk us up, trying to get some good press. How are you? How's Luke?" Rory sped through her news. "Now we're just getting ready to go to dinner and rehash the day."

"Sounds like you're doing great, then. We are just starting to figure out how and when to get married." She exchanged glances with Luke, who nodded. "I guess the next step is to tell people we're engaged."

Luke nodded again, adding, "We ought to make a few phone calls now and get them out of the way."

"Mom? The guys are here and I've gotta go. We'll talk soon, OK? Enjoy yourselves and say hi to Grandma and Grandpa." Rory hung up.

"What did you say? Start telling people right now?" Lorelai asked.

"This is the perfect time, mainly because I'm driving and you get to make all of the calls. Can't think of a better way to avoid those phone calls," he said, chuckling.

"Not so fast, bucko, you will not escape this because these new-fangled phones have a magical feature called a 'speaker phone.' You're in this all the way, my dear."

Luke sighed. "OK, yeah, I'm in. Here's my phone, can you call April?"

"Sure. Looking at your call history, ah, this must be it. The 505 area code?"

"Yep."

"Dialing. Turning on speaker phone. Holding phone up so Daddy can speak."

"Hi, Dad! What's up?" April said.

"Big news, kid. Lorelai and I are back together, and we're engaged."

"Dad! That's great! Sounds like you're on speaker phone, is Lorelai there?"

"Hi April, how's it going?" Lorelai answered.

"Hi Lorelai, congratulations to both of you. Have you guys made plans yet?"

"We're just starting to work that out, April," said Luke. "One thing we do know is that we're going to elope and have a big party later when you and Rory can both visit at the same time. Are you gonna be OK with that?"

"Sure, no problem. You'll let me know later? I kinda gotta go now; we're headed out to a movie."

"April? Save some time for me the next time you visit here, we need a little girl time together, OK?" Lorelai added.

"Will do. Talk to you later, Dad. Love you!" Luke called out a goodbye as Lorelai hung up the phone. "She really loves you, it's very sweet."

"Yeah, and I'm starting to get excited about the three of us spending time together. You'll have some ideas, I'm sure, just try to keep the glitter and nail polish under control, OK?" Luke joked.

"Got it. You're more the sparkly pink nail polish type, right?" giggled Lorelai.

Luke put his hand behind Lorelai's head and gave her a little shake. "This is not going to turn out well for me, is it?"

"This is going to be amazing. You are Daddy, you are the king. The silly moments will be the things you remember when you're walking her down the aisle one day, and they are totally worth the embarrassment." answered Lorelai, squeezing his hand.

She continued, "My turn now, time to call Mom." Lorelai dialed, turning on her speakerphone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mom, it's me."

"Lorelai? I heard from Rory that she arrived safely. How are you doing?" asked Emily.

"Sad, Mom, but it's only been a few hours. I can still trick my mind into believing that she'll be back again really soon. But there are some other things to think about now, important things. Really big things."

"You've reconsidered the tennis court or the spa?"

"No Mom, bigger than that. I'm putting you on speaker phone. OK, here goes: Luke and I are back together, and we're getting married."

The other side of the line was quiet, only the wheels of the truck on the road could be heard. Luke and Lorelai each held their breath and waited. They heard a small thud.

"Do you think she fainted?" asked Luke.

Suddenly they heard a few clicks on the phone line, and finally Emily spoke again. "Lorelai? Are you still there?"

"Still here, Mom, and so is Luke. Are you all right?"

"Yes, why on earth would you ask that? I moved to Richard's office and we are both on the speakerphone. Now, say it again so Richard can hear."

"Hi Dad. Luke and I are engaged, and we are getting married. We just got off the phone, telling April and Rory, and we wanted you to be the first to know after them."

At the Gilmore house, Emily grabbed Richard's shoulder and squeezed it hard, practically jumping up and down for joy. "She called us first! She called us first!" she whispered in her husband's ear. She did a small dance around the room.

"Hello Lorelai, hello Luke," said Richard calmly, with a worried glance at his wife. "This seems rather sudden. What happened to bring this on?"

Luke pulled off to the side of the road. If this was going to be difficult, he didn't want to do it while in a moving vehicle. The dark country road had no traffic coming in either direction. He shut off the engine.

"We've been working on it slowly for several weeks, but it all came together the night of Rory's going-away party. Dad, do you remember what you said to me? You were right. The party, the whole event, was organized by Luke."

Richard choked up a bit and said nothing, but Emily pressed on.

"What are your plans? We'd like to help, but I know that you are determined to do it your own way," said Emily cautiously.

"Thanks Emily, we appreciate that," said Luke. "Rory is so busy that we just don't see any chance for her to come home for a wedding, so we've decided to elope. We haven't decided when or where, but when we do get a chance to have both daughters together, we want to celebrate properly."

Lorelai chimed in. "Mom, we'd love for you to help with that party. Would you mind?"

"Yes of course," said Emily, smiling. "Let me know when we can discuss it."

"Mom, I'll come over in a day or two to talk about details," said Lorelai.

"Have you decided where you want to elope to, because I can also help with that. We've hardly used the airplane time share that I bought."

Richard interjected, "You bought a what? An airplane?"

"Mom! You really bought it? I thought you were just shopping to compare prices."

"Lorelai, don't be silly. I don't shop, I buy. There was no point in going all the way to the airport to look at planes if I wasn't going to buy one." Emily looked down at Richard, who was clearly shocked. "Oh don't look at me like that, Richard, if you'd looked at even one of our bills in the past months you would have seen the fees. Anyway, Lorelai, if you decide to fly somewhere for your elopement, we'll provide the plane."

Lorelai and Luke, mouths agape, shook with silent laughter.

Getting control of herself, Lorelai said, "OK, Mom, Dad, we have some more calls to make. Can we talk again tomorrow?"

"One last thing, I have a question for Luke."

"Yes, Emily, what is it?" he asked, looking quizzically at Lorelai. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Can you paddle a canoe?"

As Lorelai burst out in laughter, Luke covered her mouth and coughed to cover his own mirth.

"Er, ah, um, sure, Emily, I've been in a canoe often. I even still have one which I use on camping trips."

"Good to hear, I think that skill will come in handy," said Emily.

"On the other hand, Emily, did you know that there are two-person kayaks?" he continued. "It can handle rougher water than a canoe, and if you've got the right partner, you can even roll it underwater and come up again safe and sound."

"A match made in heaven. Congratulations to both of you," Emily answered as she hung up.


	5. Sniffy's

Sniffy's

Crickets chirped outside the truck as it stood on the side of the road.

Lorelai looked out the window, and then asked, "Is it possible we passed through to a parallel world?"

"Nah, not likely," answered Luke. "She talked about the canoe and the kayak, remember? There's no alternate universe that would repeat that scenario. Not even Star Trek got that weird."

"OK, so I guess there's nothing to do but move forward. Who else do we need to call tonight? There's Sookie, and Jess and Liz, also Michel. Oh yes, and Babette. That will do for a while," said Lorelai.

"Sure, and we'll tell Maisy and Buddy tonight. Let's go." Luke started the engine and they drove the last few miles to the tavern as Lorelai finished the phone calls.

They entered the restaurant at the back, walking right into the kitchen. Buddy greeted them with a hearty handshake for Luke and a hug for Lorelai. A no-nonsense guy, he sat them down at the break table and put small plates of shrimp sautéed in garlic in front of them.

Maisy walked in with a frown on her face. She greeted Lorelai, polite but diffident, and then launched into Luke. "What are you thinking? When you broke up a year ago, we couldn't talk to you for weeks. You didn't eat, didn't do anything, you just worked and stayed in your apartment."

Luke began, "Maisy, …" but she interrupted him again. "You're both idiots," she said, looking sternly at both Luke and Lorelai.

"Now you, Lorelai. We've only met a few times, but I saw how much you loved him. Now neither of you is leaving here until I believe that you are ready to make this work."

She walked over to the liquor cabinet, pulled out a bottle of whiskey and four glasses. Buddy brought over the rest of their dinner and the older couple sat down with them. Maisy poured a round of drinks and toasted,

"The only problem that love and communication cannot overcome is the problem you don't want to solve."

Luke and Lorelai began slowly, telling first about the last few weeks as their friendship returned to normal. Lorelai talked about the many signals Luke gave that she didn't recognize, ending with the karaoke put-down that hurt Luke. Luke told about the pressure he got from Liz and others, making it hard to do what he really wanted to do, which was run to Lorelai and reconcile. He told how he doubted that she would be able to care for him again, even though the character reference letter whispered to him that she'd never stopped loving him.

Another round of whiskey brought them to the deepest, heart-piecing moments of their separation: Lorelai's marriage and Luke's exclusion of Lorelai from his relationship with his daughter. They told how important those few moments in the hay bale maze were, how those words still echo in their hearts. Maisy and Buddy reached deep as well, telling the younger couple of their near-divorce decades before, of the months of living in their house but barely speaking to each other, of their eventual reconciliation.

One last round spoke of healing. Maisy and Buddy learned that the best way for them was to get the problem on the table, then to do what it takes to work through it.

Maisy said, "An ultimatum is the surest way to end a relationship, but impatience and inaction follow close behind. The best method is to make sure you're saying what's really in your heart, then trusting your partner to respond in the most loving way they can."

Taking a bottle of wine with them, Lorelai and Luke drove back to the hotel, more thoughtful than before. A few miles away from the hotel, Luke turned the truck left and drove up a winding road to the top of a hill. He pointed the truck into the woods and stopped.

They got out, jackets in hand and sat on the tailgate, looking at the valley, the stars, the moon. Lorelai opened the wine and took a long swig. "Nice that you have a Swiss Army knife in your glove box," she commented. She handed the bottle to Luke, who also drank deeply.

"So. Unusual day, huh." Luke tapped the back of his hand softly against Lorelai's thigh.

"Apparently the word is getting around that we're idiots," noted Lorelai.

"Yeah, I guess so. You still in?" Luke asked.

"Yes. Let me show you," she said, and hopped off the tailgate and got her purse from the front seat. She dug around in her purse until she found her wallet.

She dug around in the back of the wallet and pulled out a cropped copy of the picture, just Luke and Lorelai smiling at each other. "When I was emptying my house of Luke stuff, I came across the photo of us that Rachel took. Remember that night at the Founders' Day celebration?" Luke nodded and took another drink of wine, holding the picture.

"There were a few things I couldn't get rid of, so I made a small Luke Danes box. I didn't want to fold the picture, so I trimmed it down and put it in my wallet, just so I would have a piece of you near me all the time. A classic case of pining, I guess."

"I always loved that picture," she continued. "You look good."

"Good how?" smiled Luke.

Luke put his arm around Lorelai and they lay back on their jackets in the bed of the truck.

"So what's in the box?"

"Nothing. I threw it out."

"You threw it out after all?" Luke leaned up on one elbow, looking down at Lorelai.

"No no no, that's not what I meant! I threw the box out. After Chris left for good, I moved all of the stuff from the box into a drawer in my bedroom, where I could pine without anyone seeing. You moved back in and you didn't even know it. I think that gives me a pretty high score on the idiot test. "

"You made a shrine to me?" asked Luke, squinting his eyes with an evil smile.

"That's what I'm saying – in the giant parade of idiots, I'm the one twirling the flaming baton," said Lorelai, exasperated.

Luke harrumpfed. "Probably gotta agree with you there. A shrine to Luke – I could get used to that."

"And you, mister chuppah maker, are right there beside me in that parade doing backflips." She poked him gently with her finger. "I also couldn't get rid of the chuppah. Never will."

Took her poking finger and nibbled on it. "I'm glad you kept the chuppah."

He continued. "You know the duffle bag I brought with us? It's been packed with your things since the day I came to elope with you. On Monday I added two new toothbrushes and some clothes for me, and it was packed. That must be near perfect on the idiot scale too."

"We really are idiots, then?" asked Lorelai.

"I dunno. Is an idiot smart enough to be aware that he's an idiot?" Luke pondered. "Probably not."

"That makes it kind of hopeless, doesn't it? If we are, or if we aren't, we'll never know. But if we can't know, then we get to choose the reality we want, right? I think we should choose idiot, it's easier than all of this thinking."

"OK, sure, sounds good. So we're idiots. What next?" queried Luke.

"Well, since we don't have to pretend we're not idiots any more, we can just be happy idiots, right? That gives us license to do idiotic things all we want," joked Lorelai.

"So what idiotic thing do you want to do now?"

"Go back to the hotel and spend one more night awake." She smiled and kissed Luke, who was definitely warming up to this idiot thing.

On the road again, Lorelai cuddled up close to Luke as he drove. She placed her hand on his knee and squeezed gently at first, then a little harder as she felt Luke's response. Drawing her hand slowly up his thigh, she giggled when Luke pressed the accelerator harder.

"Now this is the way to drive," she laughed, drawing her fingernails a little further up his thigh.

"Oh god," growled Luke, feeling the impact of her touch. He held at least the truck's accelerator in check this time, but shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Lorelai changed tactic by turning towards him and sliding her fingers between the buttons on his shirt. She felt his warm skin and the hair on his abdomen. Luke groaned, and decided not to surrender. Instead he slowed down a little, took his right arm and put it around Lorelai's shoulder.

He played with her hair, and then moved his fingers to her lips, brushing them gently, pressing against them as she kissed his fingertips. Luke's thigh was forgotten as Lorelai closed her eyes and sucked on Luke's fingertips, tasting ever so slightly of the wine they had been drinking.

Luke moved his hand from her mouth to the back of her head, weaving his fingers through her tangled hair and lightly rubbing her scalp. As his hand curved over the top of her head, a shudder rippled down her back. She leaned back against the seat breathing quickly, feeling like her whole skin was electrified.

That was all the time Luke needed to navigate the vehicle safely into the parking lot and into a space. He cut the engine, put the parking brake on and exhaled, grateful that they got back before that situation got out of hand.

Lorelai, still a little affected by the whiskey and wine, accepted Luke's help out of the car, as he gathered her bag, the wine and their coats. He guided Lorelai to the door, and they made it safely to the elevator before she started feeling amorous again. With only the two of them in the elevator, they began kissing, tongues brushing against each other, striving for maximum impact.

Lorelai pushed Luke up against the wall and pressed her body close to his as he dropped the coats and wrapped his arms around her, holding the wine bottle at her back. She kissed him feverishly, opening the top buttons on his shirt so she could reach his muscular chest. The heat of their bodies was noticeable in the confined space of the elevator.

"Lorelai, get your key out, this is our floor," he gasped between kisses. He pulled away and gathered their belongings. They stumbled out of the elevator, feeling the alcohol again as they hit the cooler air in the hallway. Drunk more on lust than wine, they clung together until they managed to enter the room.

Luke dropped everything but the wine, which he set on a nearby table, and turned with a pretense of vengeance to Lorelai. "You made me crazy in the truck, I thought I was going to go right off the road," he said, his voice rough with desire.

She laughed and said, "I just wanted to get back here as quickly as I could. I'd actually hoped for warp drive, Scotty. "

"I'll warp drive you until you can't see straight," he growled as he ran his hands over the red skirt encasing her hips. His hands moved to her backside and he pulled her to him, leaning in to kiss her collarbone, then placed kisses even further down, parting her shirt to kiss her breasts, which had been lifted up by her bra and spilled over the lace barely covering the bottom half of each orb.

They turned, Luke pulling her closer to the bed as he sat, opening her shirt and kissing her navel. Lorelai let the shirt fall off her shoulders, which caught Luke's attention again and he pulled her down to reach her breasts with his mouth. One quick flip and the bra was history.

He reached down to his shoes to pull them off. Lorelai bent forward over his shoulder, pressing her naked upper torso against him, stretching her arms along his back as far as they would go. He could feel the hardness of her nipples on his back and Luke sat up again, placing his hands firmly on her hips, reaching around to the back and unzipping the skirt.

"Hello, skirt, thanks for getting the job done tonight," he said, and pulled the front of the skirt away from Lorelai's body, sliding the silky material down to her thighs and lower until she stepped out of the skirt altogether.

"Where's your baseball cap, because I've dreamed of wearing exactly this outfit for you since forever, but it needs the cap." She stood there, glorious, wearing a whisper of a panty, red high heels, and nothing else.

"Screw the baseball cap!" said Luke as he stood and pulled her close to him, feeling every inch of her body. "That's not what I wanted you to screw tonight," she retorted, and they both began stripping him as fast as they could.

They practically launched themselves at the bed, rolling over and over until they rocked back somewhere in the center. Luke lay on top of Lorelai, fiercely kissing every part of her he could reach with his mouth, his hands caressing the most sensitive areas. It was as if he needed to touch every inch of her body at once.

A raging lust had grabbed Lorelai as well. For every place Luke found on her body to touch, she responded in kind. When he lowered his mouth to her breasts, she locked her legs around his waist, rubbing her mound against his abdomen. She moaned as he sucked her nipples, pulling them just hard enough to send a signal to her center.

Luke moved up to kiss her neck and face. As he reached the top with his mouth, he moved his hand down to her panty, already soaked completely through. Lorelai moved her hands across his back, moaning as he touched her clit through the gossamer fabric.

Lorelai had kept a close watch on Luke's hardness, even when she couldn't see it, she could definitely feel it. It was now resting on her upper thigh, feeling more like a rod than flesh and blood.

They rolled over so Lorelai was on top, Luke was running his hands over her ass, bringing his fingertips to the front, then running them slowly up the inside of the thigh. It drove her wild with desire and she begged him to take her, now and hard.

"First the panty comes off," he said as he knelt down and kissed her folds. Moving his finger up to her clit, he pressed down gently, feeling for just the right spot to get a reaction, but not so harsh that she jumped. He found the spot on the side of her clit, and he rubbed it, feeling it get bigger and hard. He replaced his finger with his mouth, tantalizing her with the fabric barrier.

Luke ran his hands up over her mound to her hips, sliding his fingers between the elastic and her body. Lifting his head, he slid Lorelai's panty down over her hips, down further, exposing her center to him, which he kissed, running his tongue from her clit down to her soft folds of skin eagerly awaiting his presence.

He leaned back, pulling the panty down over his hip, then down to her shoe-clad feet. He slipped the panty over each shoe in turn, dropping the panty to the floor. Turning back to Lorelai, he grabbed one ankle and kissed it, then took the other ankle in his hand and repeated the action.

Slowly he stood up, still holding her ankles. Positioning them a few inches apart, he ran his head down towards the juncture of hip and leg, kissing and licking as Lorelai panted openly.

She looked at Luke standing there, holding one of her ankles in each hand, the shoes rising above his hands. His manhood was fully erect, his eyes burned with love as well as desire, but all she could think about was how safe she felt, and how loved. He was there, naked, completely open to her, loving her, trusting her again. Deep inside her a laugh of pure joy brewed and she used every bit of self-control as she tried to stifle it.

It came out as a half-cough, half-gag. Luke dropped her legs and knelt beside her, worried that she was choking. He cradled her head with his hands, made sure she was breathing, and looked into her eyes. That's where he saw her joy, her love, and the natural laughter that sprang from her when she was happy. It was like the sun had come out. He smiled back at her, this time his whole face lit up, the skin around his eyes crinkling, directing attention to the two deep blue oceans that were his eyes.

He pulled her further up on the bed and cradled her, kissing her eyes, her nose, connecting with her lips as she wrapped her arms and her body around him.

"Luke, make love to me now. That moment when we are together is… aaah, yes!" She gripped him tightly around the neck as he brought his center to hers, pressing insistently, taking the entry that she freely gave to him.

They moved quickly this time, their lovemaking demanding everything from each other. The heat between their bodies generated a moist dew on their skin as they pressed more insistently together, going ever deeper.

He pushed in as she pushed up towards him, pausing together to feel that moment of unity, then they resumed their natural rhythm. Lorelai was desperate for more.

"Faster, Luke, faster! Oh god, it's so deep, so hard, just what I need. " Lorelai began to squeeze her muscles first as she felt him pulling back, then loosened her muscles again as he plunged back in.

"Lorelai, how do you do that? You've got a hold on me so strong. I feel like I'm falling deeper and deeper." A deep moan fell from his lips. Luke curved his back and closed his eyes, feeling every contraction of her muscles.

She clenched her ass tightly, tilting her hips forward, which triggered her peak. Luke continued to drive into her as the intensity increased, there was a snap in brain as her climax exploded, making her slam her arms flat onto the bed and clench the sheets. He continued, going wild as her muscles closed tighter and tighter, almost pulling his climax out of him. He grasped her clenched hand as he emptied into her, crying "Lorelai, oh, it's there, all there, ah, ah, yes!" They both were gasping for breath, sweating, flushed from the passion.

He lay on top of her for a little while, cradling her, kissing her, tears of joy mixed with exhaustion visible on both faces, and love shining in their eyes. They moved to a drier spot on the bed, legs intertwined, worn out. Their world was now just touches, kisses, and murmured words of love. Looking through the night, still fascinated by each other, they see moonbeams enter their room, reflecting light.


	6. Early Delivery at Luke's

"Michel, so glad to see you. I'm exhausted and ready to go home!" exclaimed Lorelai. It was late in the night, Lorelai had worked until the nice young French couple and their baby arrived after having a 6 hour flight delay.

"Lorelai, you can annoy me all you want, you won't bring my mood down," drawled Michel, looking down his nose at her. "I had the most perfect date; fabulous dancing and I think I'm in love!" He turned around on the lobby floor a few times using his trademark Michel dance moves.

"You sly dog, you! I'm glad you had a good time." She looked down and saw Paw-Paw. "Hi Paw-Paw, you big fuzzy sweetie. How are you doing? I'm going to bring Paul Anka over to play with you some time, you know."

Without answering, Paw-Paw walked over to a corner behind the reception desk and settled onto his dog bed, stitched with the Dragonfly logo and his name.

"OK, so Pascal, Christelle and their baby have just gone upstairs to their room. When they arrived, I heated a bottle for little Michel and that they knew how everything works. The poor things, all three looked exhausted." Lorelai vacated her seat at Reception so Michel could take it.

"Their baby is named Michel? They have such good taste, he'll certainly be a handsome child," he remarked to himself as Lorelai put on her jacket, waved goodbye and headed to her Jeep.

Lorelai drove around to the back of Luke's Diner and parked her car next to Luke's truck. She deftly flipped her keys around her finger until she caught the key to the diner's back door. Smiling to herself, she unlocked the door and entered, locking it behind her.

"3 a.m., boy am I tired," she thought to herself as she began to climb the stairs. "Shoes! Must be quiet," she thought, and pulled off one shoe while still moving up the stairs. On the very next step she tripped and almost fell. "Shoes first, then stairs, must remember that," she mumbled as she stopped and removed the second shoe, holding them in her hand as she climbed the stairs.

The apartment was dark as expected. Luke had been asleep for hours by now. She put her purse and shoes down by the sofa, and then moved to the bathroom.

Removing her makeup and brushing her teeth, she looked in the mirror. "My hair needs a trim," she thought idly, removing her clothes and laying them on the shelf near the sink. On the door hung a pink shorty nightgown, ruffled along the bust with spaghetti straps. Her favorite nightgown, she slipped it on over her head and leaned on the heater, reflecting on her day.

"The Dragonfly is fun now," she thought, "just as Luke predicted. It's almost second nature to make sure everything is running smoothly, Michel is a great manager, Christy's event planning is bringing in more guests all the time. And it's getting easy. Sookie and I have figured out so many things, we've tweaked so many little things, and now it's all running as expected. Good. Good job, Lorelai. Time for bed."

She walked softly to the bed and crawled in, slowly moving to Luke's side as he snored softly. Spooning him, she dozed off quickly.

A short time later she awoke to feel Luke's arm lying over her stomach, holding her gently. He cracked one eye open and said sleepily, "Hi, did everything go alright?"

"Yes, the family arrived very late, completely worn out. I helped them feed the baby, his name is Michel."

"You fed Michel? What?" Luke became slightly more coherent. He fondled the ruffle on her nightie.

"No, my sweet sleepy Luke, I fed the baby of the guests. The baby's name is Michel, and he has blue eyes and the thickest head of dark brown hair."

"Oh, not Michel Michel. Baby Michel." Luke slowly began to comprehend.

"That's right, Luke Luke. Go to sleep." Lorelai slid backwards until she was again spooned with him and fell back to sleep.

Later, she cracked her eyes open and wiped the sleep from her eyes as she felt Luke's hand on her hip, moving in small circles. She shifted in bed a little and the hand caressing her hip became more insistent. He leaned on one elbow, watching her wake up. She put her hand on top of his.

"You know, Baby Michel was so pretty. His blue eyes reminded me of yours, and his dark brown hair had a soft curl, just like yours," she explained as she idly traced the veins on Luke's hand with her finger.

"Baby? What baby?" Luke sounded confused.

Lorelai answered, "Baby Michel, the baby of the guests at the Dragonfly. I just told you about them."

"Baby Michel – he had dark brown hair?" Luke whispered. "And blue eyes?" He leisurely kissed the top vertebrae in her back.

Lorelai smiled and snuggled closer. "Yes, he reminded me of someone else I know with dark brown hair and blue eyes, except he was teeny-tiny, and he smelled like baby powder, not like meat."

Luke grunted and gave her a little shove with his hips. Lorelai's stomach and clit gave her the sign that they were done sleeping. She wriggled a little against him as her whole body began to respond.

Putting her hand behind her back, she drew it along his thigh, curving it when it reached his hip and sliding it down to feel his erection soft, but growing, almost as if it were waking up as well. As she began squeezing his manhood, Luke gave a shudder and softly moaned, "Umh." Lorelai turned onto her back to give Luke a chance to return the favor. Beyond an occasional moan, both remained completely silent, massaging, caressing, unwilling to spoil this delight with chatter.

"Early Delivery lovemaking, my favorite kind," she thought as she grasped Luke's erection and slowly moved her fingers up and down. "I love it when he's awake early enough for a little fun before his delivery arrives. I love it even more when I know I can sleep in the next day."

Luke twisted a little to give her more room to work, while Lorelai's hand refused to give up her prize. He bent his head near her shoulder, dropping lazy kisses there. She rolled over onto her back, changing hands in the process. Luke murmured with pleasure as she continue her ministrations.

"Smelled like baby powder? A little baby boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes?" asked Luke, who had grown thoughtful. He began to caress her stomach with his open palm. Lorelai squirmed with pleasure at his caress, knowing where it would lead next. He palmed his hand over her stomach, playing with the small vacuum created as his palm sealed her belly button. Little fart-like sounds emanated from her belly, causing her to giggle.

She kept a steady but slow hand on him, feeling him at the moment when it grew from pleasure to thrill. He pressed his lower body against her and she began to caress him anew, cupping her hand under his balls, squeezing, caressing him.

"Mmmh," he said as he moved his mouth down from her shoulder along her collarbone, drifting slowly to the hollow between her breasts. "Do you know what I'm looking forward to?" he spoke in a low voice.

"Hee hee, your 'early delivery?' That's certainly what I'm looking forward to," she quipped.

Luke placed one arm on each side of her body, lowered his head to her face, their lips just millimeters apart, and replied, "Early delivery? Dirty," he growled, then dropped his lips and kissed her until her limbs turned to jelly. She collapsed dramatically, grinning up at him. Luke picked up her arm and let loose, crinkling his eyes with a smile as she let her arm drop lifelessly on the bed.

He growled and insisted, "Ask me what I'm looking forward to."

"OK, sugar, what are you looking forward to?" she said, making goo-goo eyes at him.

He knelt between her legs and leaned back a little, putting both hands on her tummy, slowly drawing them down either side of her body. "I'm looking forward to a little baby with bright blue eyes and dark hair growing right here," he whispered, "and that little baby lying up here, being nurtured by the most beautiful woman in the world." He moved his hands up to her breasts, brushing her nipples, then kissing them, one at a time, until she collapsed again, this time dissolving at her center.

"I love that dream almost as much as I love you," she answered simply, reaching up to him and pulling him to her. They moved, slowly at first, feeling each other, until the urge grew strong enough that neither could wait any longer. Opening her hips, she guided him to her opening, dipping his tip in just enough to feel her wetness and rub it over her entrance.

He entered her with slow determination, feeling every centimeter of her softness closing around him until he could go no further. "We'll get there one day. Soon, I hope," he murmured in her ear as he brushed her hair away from her forehead. He fluttered his lips over her face, starting at her forehead, then tracing her eyebrows. Her eyes closed as she gasped when he started to move inside her, and Luke's lips plucked gently at the delicate skin of her eyelids.

He moved a hand to her soft mound and began massaging her clit, alternating between making direct contact and pressing his warm hand onto her mound. With each new attack, Lorelai moved closer to the edge, passion rising in her, her nipples tingling.

Luke's lips, soft yet demanding, reached her lips and she responded, pouring every iota of her passion into her kiss. The tempo of his thrusts rose with the kiss, and his tiny grunts gave a clue to how close he was to the peak. He continued, rubbing his body against her mound, pushing her over the edge as she cried out, "Aahh, aahh, oohh, ooh, ooh!"

Her cries reached Luke deep inside and with a grunt he exploded, arching upward as he pressed himself deeply inside her, feeling every spurt as she clamped down on him, draining him completely. Wrapping her legs around him, she held him in. Slowly he retreated, their connection becoming smaller, until one small movement of his hips broke the deep connection completely. "Always the saddest moment," he sighed.

"Not so sad," she replied, "because there's still our afterglow, the precious moments when I can tell you what's in my heart."

Elbows at her shoulders, he put his hands on either side of her face, tangling her fingers in her hair, he asked, "What's in your heart tonight, my love?" His happiness was spread across his whole face.

"Looking forward to looking forward to the arrival of our little dark haired, blue eyed baby. With you." Lorelai's words sang like an angel's voice in Luke's ears.

They curled up together, smiling and joking about having and caring for a baby, until they nearly fell asleep. Lorelai snuggled deeper in the bed, saying, "I really like your new sheets, too. So smooth and comfortable."

"I dunno, what?" mumbled sleepy Luke as he tried to understand what she was saying. "I don't have any new sheets."

"These sheets are new. I'd remember sheets this soft. When do you have to get up for your early delivery?" she asked as she wrapped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

"No delivery," he answered. Puzzled by that statement, Luke asked, "Lorelai, where do you think you are?"

"Silly question, I'm in my fiancé's apartment, wearing my favorite nightie, holding tight onto my guy."

"Um, no, take a look around. We're in the hotel, we don't have to go anywhere, and you are definitely not wearing that pink nightie." He rubbed his hands over her torso, proving conclusively that there was no fabric between his hands and her skin.

Lorelai sat up, looked around the room, and it hit her. She'd dreamed the whole bit with Michel, the baby, Paw-Paw, and the apartment. Slapping her hand to her forehead, she fell backward on the bed, groaning, "How could that happen? My god, I can't tell the difference between a dream and reality."

"Doesn't matter, you were never so attached to reality anyway. Come here, let's talk about my apartment," Luke said as he reached out his hand for hers.

"What about your apartment? Are we going to give it a spruce?" she smiled teasingly.

"No spruce." He pretended to push her away again, but kept a tight hold on her. "I think it's time I moved into the Crapshack. We can return the apartment to its original purpose as an office."

"Mmmm, sounds great, but there is one little problem." This got his attention.

"Problem? What problem?" There was a tinge of stress in his voice.

She chuckled and said, "I used your underwear drawer for my Luke shrine."

An exasperated sigh escaped him as he said, "You can make the whole damn house a Luke shrine if you want, but if I don't get an underwear drawer somewhere, we're going to have to share yours. I've seen that drawer, too, and you'll have to get rid of all the old worn-out pieces. Why do you keep those anyway? It makes no sense. Did you ever get rid of those 'butt floss' panties? They are just creepy."

"Well some of the old pieces are my souvenir underwear, some are backup underwear for when I don't want to wear good underwear, and some are for, uh, uh, I'm out."

"OK, you choose. Your old underwear or your shrine. And the butt undies go."

"I choose to replace the Luke shrine with the whole house Luke shrine. And the butt undies go. Agreed. I'm keeping the sweet cheeks undies, though."

"Agreed," he said with a look of smug satisfaction.

"So Luke, when do you want to move?" Lorelai asked.

"How about today?" he replied.

"Yum, a man of action, love it. We can get started on the whole house shrine tonight. Umm, can you even have a shrine to a living person? Or would you have to be dead first?" she wondered out loud.

"No shrine if I have to be dead first."

"We do have to gather your sacred relics, otherwise there's nothing for people to visit when they come to your shrine."

"No one is coming to visit my shrine, and I have no sacred relics. They can come visit me instead. We can make maps to the Crapshack and post them all around town. Taylor will love that."

"No, seriously, we need some relics. How about your singing Billy Bass fish? That's a good relic. We can move your sports trophies out to the back garden, so Crazy Carrie and your groupies can come and reminisce. Ooh, what about a special corner for your butt? Everybody likes your butt, we might even be able to charge admission to see a statue of your butt. They might want to rub it for good luck …"


	7. Of Wedding Plans and Giant Burgers

"Lorelai? Lorelai?" Luke gave her a little push as she lay sleeping, and she slowly began to wake. He was lounging on the bed, and had clearly been awake for a while. His lithe body covered by his sleeping sweats and a T-shirt, he lazily scratched his belly as he looked at his fiancée.

"Wha? Go away, I'm sleeping," she answered.

"Lorelai, do you know where you are? Thought I'd better ask in case you were back in my apartment again." Luke chuckled.

"Yes, I know exactly where I am. I'm in bed with an annoying man."

"Now that's a real problem for you, isn't it?" Luke rocked her back and forth with his fingertips.

"The annoying bit is a problem, not so much the man, why?"

"Because I don't drink coffee."

Lorelai rolled over, sighed at him through sleepy eyes, and replied, "You think that just because you're annoying, I'm going to give you coffee in the hopes you'll go away?" Luke grinned.

"Sorry Bucko, not gonna happen. First, I don't want you to go away. Second, if you think you can be more annoying than I can, we can have that little contest any time you like. Now let me sleep!" She flipped back over onto her pillow.

Luke laughed, "You're definitely right about the annoying part, but wrong about the sleeping. Let's get up and get going. We have things to do."

"Aah, do we have to? I like it here, where there is room service and no bothersome people bugging us all day long. Do you know what we're going to face when we get back to Stars Hollow?" Lorelai was fully awake and felt reality creeping in.

"Yes, there's a huge list of things to do before we can elope. We also have to move my things over to your, make that our house, and you have to get started on that whole-house Luke shrine. No butt statue by the way. I've already ordered breakfast, so we'll be able to plan while we eat." Luke was a man with a mission.

Lorelai showered and put on a robe while Luke began packing their few belongings. They lounged and chatted idly over breakfast, until Luke asked, "Eloping. How, when and where? What are you thinking?"

"Well, in Massachusetts we talked about a number of options, but I have a suggestion that wasn't on that list," said Lorelai. "The Dragonfly."

"The inn? How long will it take to get the license? I want to get married fast; I'm not taking any more chances. You do understand that, right?" Luke was surprised, and continued, "If we do it in Stars Hollow, I'm worried that it will get out of control. Think about it – your mother, Liz, Sookie? This is not sounding good."

"Luke, calm down, we have Michel to keep everything under control, and Christy, our event planner, has done lots of weddings in the past two years. Additionally, you are looking at a renowned wedding planner for the Independence Inn, and the proprietress of the Dragonfly Inn, whose crack staff can create a wedding with amazing speed. I am, in effect, the uberplanner of Stars Hollow." She posed, then took a bow.

"Aah, yes Michel, he's kind of a putz. You think he can handle Emily?" Luke still sounded a little uncertain.

"He has a track record of charming Emily and of keeping her under control when it's needed. I can count on him as long as we make sure he knows what's needed. Actually, he might like controlling Emily and Sookie a little too much," said Lorelai, obviously proud of her staff at the Dragonfly.

"The license is even easier. No more blood test in Connecticut, all we have to do is apply for a license with the local authority, which would be Taylor Doose, of course. As soon as we have the license, we can get married immediately."

"How immediate is immediately?" Luke asked.

"Try today if we get the license." She leaned over, putting her hands on Luke's knees, then walked her fingers up his thighs as she brought her face closer to his. "You could be kissing a married woman tonight if you wanted, Mr. Danes."

"Yeah?" He ran his hands up her arms, feeling her breath on his lips, just a hair's breadth away from his.

"Yeah, although if we're going to the trouble of getting married in Stars Hollow, we might as well let a few people help us celebrate, don't you think? I think I can arrange that with minimal delay."

"There is the obnoxious confidence I've come to love, and now, apparently, I get to benefit from it. You promise a fast wedding? Legally binding?" His breath was coming faster now, her touch was burning up his legs, inspiring ideas of a different nature.

"I bet I can plan the wedding within five minutes, and before we leave here, we can have everything going fast enough that we'll be able to marry tomorrow or Thursday."

Luke snorted. "Five minutes? No way. You cannot plan a wedding in five minutes, not even obnoxiously confident uberplanner and inn proprietress Lorelai Gilmore."

"Set a timer, my friend, and I will show you. Oh! What are you willing to risk?" Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "How about a meal, loser buys?"

"I accept those stakes and raise you that the winner decides what the loser will eat. And the loser must eat it. For you I choose a vegetarian meal."

"For you, and you will lose, it will be the biggest beef burger in town."

"You're on. Ready? Go. Start planning." Luke looked at the clock.

Lorelai stood up, stretched lazily, and asked, "What are your requirements for your wedding, Mr. Danes?"

"My what? Oh, um, we need the basics: dress, flowers, rings, cake, dinner, … and I'm out."

"That's all? It will be a sad wedding without music."

"Good point, add music. Also lobster, we agreed to have lobster at our wedding." Luke was pleased with himself for remembering their promise at Martha's Vineyard.

"OK, clearly you need my help with the list of requirements. Sit back, fix a cup of tea, and prepare to be amazed."

"Site: Dragonfly back garden for both the wedding and reception, coordinated by Michel and Christy. This will include the flowers, decorations, a photo and web shoot for Rory and April, and the chuppah, of course. Can't forget the chuppah." She caressed Luke's head, and he took her hand, kissing her palm tenderly.

"Food: Cake, Sookie, reception food, Caesar and Sookie, Christy can contact Caesar. Lobster dinner: if Emily Gilmore can arrange her vow renewal in a week, she can manage this one dancing backwards and in high heels. We already have the champagne and wine at the inn. I'll give you a good price on the alcohol, Mr. Danes."

"It's a deal, Ms. Gilmore, but only if you include beer."

"Done. License – we can get that from Taylor as soon as we like. Music – Lane will handle that, no problem. Rings, let's see what Liz has first before we drive to Hartfield. Invitations – who else but Miss Patty and Babette with Hello Magazine?"

"That leaves us with just two assignments: the date and our clothes, although I would guess Mom has Miss Celine camped out at the Gilmore residence, just waiting for us to appear. Using my vast knowledge and experience, Mr. Danes, I think we'll be able to have your wedding ready by tomorrow evening. How does a sunset wedding work for you?"

"I'm blown away. Where do I sign?" He stood up, took Lorelai in his arms and kissed her deeply.

"I'll vouch for you just this once, but only because your name is engraved upon my heart." Pause for more kissing and smooching, then Lorelai continued, "All done, and a minute to spare. Looks like you're going to be eating a burger."

"You do know that you forgot one very important decision to be made before we marry, right? You may not win this after all, if you can't figure it out." Luke chuckled mischievously.

"No, I'm sure I have it all. What are you missing? What else do we need to decide?"

"Where are we going to put the coupons?" he asked, his eyes crinkling with laughter.

Lorelai's joyful laughter rang out as Luke picked her up and twirled her around. "How about the drawer in the table in the hallway?" she asked.

"Done. You made it, just under the wire. Bring on the cow."

"Now, all we have to do is make eight phone calls: Mom, Michel, Sookie, Caesar, Taylor, Liz, Lane and Miss Patty. Let's divide up the calls and get it done faster," said Lorelai.

"You got it. I'll also call Jess. He might manage to come from Philadelphia since he'll have a day's notice." Luke was already thinking of him for his best man.

"Good. I'll start with Mom, Michel, Sookie, Lane and Miss Patty. You cover Caesar, Liz and Taylor."

Half an hour later the calls were finished and the plans were moving fast.

Lorelai went over to Luke as he lounged on the bed, crawled on top of him and said, "Well, it's done. The wedding is planned. Are you scared?"

"Only of the burger," laughed Luke. Checking his watch, he said, "Hmmm, it appears we have some time before checkout. Any last wishes before your big wedding day?" He reached down to her hips and started caressing them, moving them around to her butt, squeezing it before sliding them up her back and back down again slowly.

Lorelai kissed him and said with a knowing smile, "If we wait a moment or two, something might come up. Oh, wait, there it is already!"

She pulled his sweats down over his hips, exposing his naked lower torso. Giving him a lustful look, she theatrically finished the pants removal, dropping them on the floor. He grinned at her as she straddled his knees, running her hands up the inside of his thighs. As her fingers approached the apex, he responded involuntarily, his cock waving slightly as new waves of desire spread over his groin.

He watched her robe slide backwards off her shoulder as she accidentally caught her foot in the bottom hem. She paused, sat up and slid her arms completely out of the robe. A single tug on the belt freed the rest of her body. She moved to straddle his thighs, then sat back, wriggling her butt to find the best spot.

Luke groaned and reached for her, but she waved him away. "Time for my Lancelot to let his lance be spoiled. A lot." She giggled at her pun while Luke fell back, melodramatically heaving a sigh.

"If it has to be. Every sword needs regular sharpening," he said, matching her lame joke with one of his own.

Lorelai began kissing and licking just below his balls, nipping and tugging on the hairs attached to the soft skin. Luke arched up, opening and closing his fists as if he were trying to grasp something.

She placed her hands on his lower abdomen, one on each side of his cock, yet not touching it.

"This is my little magic trick," she said, as she drew her fingers down, applying light pressure, then using an equally light touch of her fingernails on the way back up. His arousal responded as if she had a string attached to it.

"God, Lorelai, that feels fantastic," Luke gasped as he burned for direct contact. She slid one hand down to cup his balls, squeezing gently, caressing them. Her tongue darted out to his cock, starting at the base and danced its way up to his sensitive tip, which she drew into her mouth, eliciting a moan of pleasure from Luke.

She stroked him with her hand, starting at the base, moving slowly upwards, while she circled her tongue around the tip. As her fingers reached her mouth, she stopped stroking and took him in as far as she could.

Luke's guttural "Uff" was all the encouragement she needed. She sucked harder, repeatedly pulling back and then taking more of him in her mouth. As soon as she could sense he was approaching the point of no return, she slowed and squeezed the base of his cock as tightly as she could, giving him a moment's respite from the pressure building up inside.

Luke's hands were alternatively diving into Lorelai's hair, then caressing her face, her shoulders, and then grabbing handfuls of hair, trying to hold on to the moment. She raised her head, letting her lips feel every ridge as she regretfully pulled away; only at the tip did she let her teeth gently rasp across his sensitive skin as her lips gave him one last kiss.

Gasping, he pulled her forward, helping her straddle his hips. "I'm on fire, I want to bury myself in you and take us both down in flames." Lorelai leaned forward, positioning him at her entrance, and he thrust upward filling her fast and completely. She held on for dear life as he drove in and out of her like a piston. Catching his rhythm, she met his strokes heatedly, then arched her back and put her hands to her breasts, pinching and rolling her nipples.

He watched her hands squeezing her breasts, her eyes opening wider when she pinched, her head falling backward. Luke placed his palm on her belly, sliding down until his thumb reached her clit. He was getting near the brink, but waited, wanting his pinnacle at the same time Lorelai climaxed, wanting that feeling of her clamping down on his cock as he came.

Lorelai's eyes captured Luke's as he thrust into her, challenging him to reach her innermost parts. She felt the electricity pass through her when his thumb massaged her clit. She abandoned her breasts, only able to lean backwards and brace herself on his knees as her body exploded, crying "Oh God, Luke! Luke!"

She tightened with the climax, gripping him tightly, unwilling to let him pull back, but unable to stop it. He held her hips and with one last thrust he surged into her, holding in place as he emptied himself into her depths. Still gasping for air, they folded together, laughing triumphantly, muscles fluttering with weakness. "I love you" seemed to be the only words able to escape their mouths as they lay together, nuzzling each other, a tangle of arms and legs, hardly knowing where one person ended and the other began.


	8. Exploding Marshmallows

Driving to Hartford, Lorelai caught Luke up on her relationship with her parents.

"After our breakup, they had no reaction. None. It was as if I'd told them the price of cucumbers had dropped 10 cents. They didn't want to know why, or how I felt, or anything. There was nothing for me to react to. That's when I realized that many of my decisions had been made to be the opposite of what they wanted. I never realized how my mother influenced every decision I made. She was everywhere in my life, telling me how I should do everything. Shoes, clothes, hair, parenting, relationships, everything."

"What did you do about that?" he asked.

"I started figuring out what I liked, what I wanted. Did you know I like cucumbers? Delicious, crunchy and refreshing. Never knew that before."

"Cucumber. OK. Noted. What else?"

"Poptarts – the jury's still out on that one. Actually, no, they're just OK, nothing special."

"I didn't mean what other foods, I meant what happened next."

"Slowly it became easier to see which things mattered and which didn't, and I just stopped fighting against the things that didn't matter. When Mom and Michel ganged up on me to accompany Michel to a cotillion, I just let it happen. It made both of them happy, especially Michel, and I even enjoyed it a little. He even bought me a corsage, he was so cute. I didn't even argue when Mom pointed out that there are things in her world that I tolerate or even enjoy. It doesn't mean I have to live my life according to her rules, but I can cut both her and me some slack when it's not important."

Luke was thoughtful, then asked, "How do you go about telling her no? We both know neither Emily nor Richard are good at hearing that word."

"So far my best technique is to be a polite broken record. I listen, then consider, then politely say no. They can be quite persistent. Right now Emily is working on me expanding the Inn with a spa or tennis courts."

"That doesn't sound like you, not Sookie either. What do you want to do?" he asked.

"I considered the spa, the said no several times. Next she suggested a tennis court. Funny thing is, that's when she showed her cards. She offered for her and Dad to finance it, and all I'd have to do is get together with them once in a while to discuss progress."

"In other words, Friday Night Dinners," concluded Luke.

"Yes! She's just trying to keep in touch! It was that easy. From now on, I'm going to try to listen long enough to figure out what she really wants when she seems to get all crazy on me."

Luke picked up Lorelai's hand and kissed it, adding, "I'll be there to help keep the conversation on track. Don't hesitate to call me in for any reason. It will be easier if we do it together."

"I have no fantasies that it will be easy, starting today. Mom is thrilled to help with the wedding and is really in her element with the lobster dinners. I am worried about you, though, Luke. They talk about helping, but that could change any second. One evening, when I was helping Mom with the computer for Dad's business, she was all friendly and generous, talking about canoes and kayaks, but the next morning she was positively cold, the old Emily."

"How would that impact me?" he asked.

"I don't have any idea what could happen. The last time we talked about you before yesterday was the day I told her we broke up. They didn't like you then, and while they were polite yesterday, I've seen how it can change on a moment's notice." Lorelai looked concerned.

"Why don't we set some ground rules? How about these: as long as there's lobster and enough food for everyone, we don't worry about the dinner. Emily does what she wants as long as Michel approves."

Lorelai nodded.

"About my clothing," he continued, "No tuxes, just a suit, and nothing too fruity."

"Aww, Luke, fruity would look good on you," Lorelai teased. "How about a flowered velvet jacket and satin pants?"

"I'm not even going to respond to that. I think we ought to have a secret emergency signal so we can tell each other that something needs to be done immediately, OK?"

"What kind of signal? I don't get it," she said.

"I'm perfectly fine to say No and mean it. However, if the whole situation gets to be too much, I will put my hand on your back and walk my fingers across it, like this." Luke walks two fingers along Lorelai's thigh as if he were walking through the Yellow Pages. "That's the sign to get out of that situation or to leave the house completely. Agreed?"

"Agreed. What if they have separated us and we can't do the finger walk? They can be tricky that way, cutting the weaker one out of the herd," asked Lorelai, walking her fingers over the top of Luke's head. "Hey this is fun!"

Luke, pretending to be annoyed, slapped her hand away, leaving her giggling.

"If we're separated and need emergency help, why don't we use the speed dial? That worked great when Emily came to the diner that time."

"Good idea. So we're set, right? We finished just in time, here's Hartford already. Turn right here, then take the second left." directed Lorelai, still walking her fingers everywhere she could without getting her hand swatted again.

Emily was standing in the driveway when they pulled in, excitement evident on her face. She opened the truck door on Lorelai's side, took her by the hand, practically pulling her out of the car, then she hugged her daughter. Lorelai, shocked, looked at Luke and mouthed, "Help!" at him, then said, "Hi Mom. How's it going?"

"No time, no time, we have to get you two upstairs immediately. First come the clothes, then the tastings, then we can take some time to chat. Luke come here immediately, Miss Celine has some lovely suits picked out for you."

Emily took both of them by the hand, practically pushing them in the house and up the stairs.

"Miss Celine? Who's Miss Celine?" whispered Luke to Lorelai as Emily moved ahead to open the doors.

"Miss Celine is the closest we are ever going to come to having a fairy godmother. Just wait, you will love this. By the way, I'm Natalie Wood." Lorelai's eyes began to sparkle as she anticipated what lay behind the doors opening ahead of her.

"Natalie Wood? What are you talking about? This is getting Outer Limits-y pretty fast."

They walked through the double doors into the room Miss Celine had spent the whole morning arranging. A modest rack of men's suits stood off to one side of the room, but the rest of the room was filled with wedding dresses in every conceivable design and form.

"Mom, you have outdone yourself. This is a dream come true!" exclaimed Lorelai, touching dress after dress. "So many wonderful choices, I can't wait to try some on."

"A dream come true?" wondered Luke. "It looks like a marshmallow factory exploded in here. I bet there are unicorns suffocating here somewhere." Lorelai stifled a giggle and gave Luke a one-armed hug.

"Is that Natalie Wood I hear outside?" Miss Celine called from the back closet. "Mrs. Louis B. Mayer once told me, Celine, dear, Ava Gardner is terrific. She can't sing, she can't act, she can't talk, she's terrific! Natalie darling, it's been too long. I hear we're looking for a simple little number for you today?"

"Yes, Miss Celine, I need a wedding dress for an outdoor evening wedding tomorrow, and my fiancé needs a simple elegant dark suit," answered Lorelai.

"Um, 'Natalie,' this is looking a little crazy here," said Luke to Lorelai.

"This is nothing, just wait." She whispered back as Miss Celine entered the room.

"Natalie, there you are. I think we'll take your groom first, so we can try on your dresses with him safely out of the way. Where is your fiancé, my dear?" Miss Celine moved elegantly towards Lorelai.

"Miss Celine, here's my guy. Handsome, don't you think?" asked Lorelai. Luke, still stunned, set his mouth in a straight line and mumbled "Hello."

"My, you are a restrained one. All of that repressed energy. Oh my God, it's Gregory Peck! Such a pleasure to meet you again. I must say, so sorry that you didn't win that Oscar for The Yearling, you were robbed. Natalie, have you seen The Yearling yet?"

"Oh yes, Miss Celine, I watch it every year. Our town shows it as a summer movie outdoors in the square. That's where I first fell in love with Gregory."

"Outdoors in a town square? You must wear pedal pushers and a crisp white shirt next time. It will suit you very well. Now, Gregory, you are absolutely correct, only a dark suit will do for an evening outdoor wedding. Very good taste. How does this one suit you?"

Luke swallowed hard and said, "Natalie, what do you think? You always know what looks best on me."

"Gregory, darling, why don't you try on this one first? I think it might work for you," said Lorelai.

Luke stepped into an alcove to try on the suit while Lorelai and Emily began to peruse the dresses.

"In my mind I see a beaded dress with a feathery train, Mom. Do you see anything like that on your rack?"

"Perhaps there are one or two here, quite lovely dresses. Have you considered a veil?" asked Emily.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to borrow your tiara if possible. At least, if it works with the dress." Lorelai said.

Emily tucked her head between two dresses on her rack to give herself time to brush away a couple of tears. "I've actually got it over here, so when you try the dresses on, you can check."

Luke walked out of the alcove wearing a black Hugo Boss suit of pure New Zealand wool with two venting slits in the back of the jacket. The jacket fit his shoulders perfectly, following all the way down to the pants, which were so soft and comfortable, he felt as if he'd broken them in years ago.

As Lorelai circled him, she lifted the back to check the fit of the pants.

"Oh yes, definitely a candidate for the shrine," she whispered and gave his butt a little tweak.

"Stop that!" he hissed, turning his butt away from her. "Looks great, doesn't it?" he added, preening before a mirror.

"Gregory, dear, you have chosen exactly the right suit. There is no other on the rack that will look better on you." Miss Celine put her hands together in a silent clap.

"Do you want to try on more suits?" asked Lorelai.

"Not really, this one is great. It fits perfectly, feels wonderful, so as long as you like it, we're good," Luke said.

"Mom, can you take a picture of us with my phone? I'd like to send it to Rory and April. Miss Celine, you must be in the picture too! Come come come, we can't keep Gregory waiting."

"Of course, darling Natalie, anything for such a handsome devil." Miss Celine took her place centered between Luke and Lorelai.

"Lorelai, come help me with this. I can't figure out how to do it."

"OK, Mom, let me set the picture up. Now you stand right here and when you're ready, press right here. Then I'll come check the picture to make sure it's OK. Got it?"

"Yes, I think so," replied Emily.

Picture taken and approved, Emily moved on to the tie.

"Luke, which tie do you think will work best?" Emily asked. "I'm leaning towards the black silk jacquard, but the dark gray is also very good."

"I'll leave that decision up to you two, if you don't mind." Luke hoped for an early escape from wedding princess land.

"OK, I hear you, you're free to go. I love you, see you in a little while," said Lorelai. "Where are the silks, Mom? The tie should coordinate with the pocket silk."

"Luke," said Emily, handing Lorelai the box of silk handkerchiefs, "Go ahead and change. Richard is waiting for you downstairs in his study. You can have something to drink while we decide on a dress. There's still no alcohol in the house, but there are plenty of soft drinks and tea available. We'll come get you so we can review the menu later."

Luke changed quickly and, with a quick "I love you" and a kiss, escaped the room, heading downstairs to Richard's study. Richard wasn't in at the moment, so Luke stood and looked at Rory's painting as he recovered from the visit to Miss Celine.

After a while, Richard entered. Luke was struck by how much the man had changed since the last time he'd seen him over a year ago. As tall as ever, of course, but he was very frail. His skin was grayer, the arrogance gone out of his eyes. An image flashed through Luke's mind of his father in very much the same condition. Not good.

"Have a seat, Luke," said Richard. "How are you?"

He continued before Luke had a chance to reply. "I heard what you did for my girls, Luke, and I am very grateful that they have had someone who cared as much about them as you have."

"Richard, they have loved me every bit as much as I've loved them. They've been my family for well over a decade, through the bad times as well as the good."

Both men sat silently for a moment, each thinking this would have been a good time for a stiff drink.

"We need to change the subject," said Richard, "this is too maudlin, but I wanted to say what I needed to say before the moment got away from us."

Luke nodded.

"I won't begin to pass judgment on the last couple of years, because regrets only comfort a man for a moment, then they turn him bitter. How can we help you and Lorelai live happy, fulfilled lives. Have you made any plans so far?" Richard asked.

"Our immediate plans are simple. Marriage first, go see our girls, then let everything else come as it may." Luke was intent on being as honest as possible.

"So you'll accept our gift of the plane time share to go visit your daughters?" Luke nodded, confident that Lorelai would be pleased with the idea.

"Good, that will give you more flexibility in traveling. Rory's schedule changes so often that you'll probably end up driving halfway across Iowa anyway just to catch up with her. Where does April live?" Richard asked.

"She's in New Mexico. It's a bit further away, but the trip should be easy. I've been there a few times already, and it's a beautiful place."

Richard said, "Make sure you take some time to actually have a honeymoon as well. The plane's availability is cleared for at least two weeks, or you could honeymoon later if you prefer."

"We'll talk it over, Richard, we haven't discussed any honeymoon plans at all yet. It's all been so sudden. Wonderful, but still sudden, and I wouldn't have it any other way. After all this time has been lost, I just couldn't wait a moment more."

"How did you get back together?" Richard's curiosity had gotten the better of his sense of decorum.

"Lorelai and I have always had a relationship that was meant to stand the test of time. We go through our hardest challenges, coming out stronger and closer than ever. Even in my darkest moments I knew I couldn't give up completely. To be more specific, I began to hope again around March or April."

"Yes, I could see a change in Lorelai about the same time. She was starting to be happy again for the first time in a very long time. It nearly broke my heart, because she and I have had such a hard time over the years. To see her heartbroken, but unable to help her, was very hard." A dark, sad look passed over Richard's face.

"Richard, seven years ago I watched her go into your hospital room, scared that you were about to die, yet she wanted to bridge the gap between you. It was so hard for her, but she did it. I don't know what went on in that hospital room, but I did see a different Lorelai come out. She had broken through part of the protective wall she'd built for herself."

Richard turned his chair to face his books while Luke got up and went over to Rory's portrait. A sniffle betrayed Richard's emotion.

"I watched Rory grow up, you know, Richard," Luke said. "Rory always had her mom, but she also had others in Stars Hollow watching out for her. I've seen her, talked to her almost every day for over ten years. No one who knows those two women, and has met you, could doubt that you're from the same blood. You have the same brains, strength and persistence. You fight passionately for your family. This is part of the legacy that you have already given your daughter and granddaughter. They understand that and appreciate it."

"I came into your study today, Richard, to say very different things than I've actually said. In addition to my sister and my daughter, Lorelai and Rory are my family. For many years, they were the only family I had contact with. I love them more than I do myself.

"We will never live the way you and Emily once wished we would, but we don't want to live without you in our lives. I will not stand by and watch anyone hurt Lorelai like she's been hurt at times in the past. We invite you into our lives with respect for you as people, and as long as you treat us the same way, we are here for you." Luke finished and waited for the storm. It never hit.

Richard got up, walked over to the picture and stood next to Luke. "Thank you, son. There's one more thing," Richard said. "We're giving Lorelai a gift of enough money to pay off the Dragonfly. It's completely separate from our wedding gift to the two of you, but we want you to start your marriage off debt-free. It's the Gilmore way. Emily's probably giving her the check right now. As to your wedding gift, we'd like to help you with a house, whether you buy a new one or enlarge Lorelai's current place. I trust you'll discuss it and get back to us with your ideas."

"Sounds great, Richard, thanks. I'm sure Lorelai will appreciate, actually I know Lorelai appreciates your generosity already." Luke patted Richard on the back.

"Good. Shall we go find the food? Michel and Sookie have brought over a few things to taste for tomorrow night. We can get a jump ahead of the girls. We might even be able to find a beer somewhere."

Heading into the kitchen, Luke was accosted by Sookie, who gave him a big hug. "Luke! Congratulations! This is big, so big! Jackson and I are so happy for you! Finally back together and getting married! Let me tell you, it's a brilliant idea to get married right away, take no chances. Sometimes with Lorelai it's like she can just slip out of your grasp, like a wee little fairy just disappearing in the mist, now you see her, now you don't. Or maybe it's like she's skittish, like a Chihuahua. What do you think, Luke, fairy or Chihuahua? Oh, this is so good. We have everything under control for the wedding, Michel is a master organizer."

There was no need for Luke to reply, since both Sookie and Michel began speaking at once.

Emily pulled three dresses from the rack and gave them to Miss Celine, who carried them back to Lorelai in the changing area. Lorelai came out in the first dress, a gigantic puff of tulle and beads. Miss Celine and Emily screamed "No!" at the same time and Lorelai dashed back to change into the next one.

"She looked like one of those plastic loofahs," said Emily, shuddering.

"Mom, do I need to remind you that you chose that dress?" Lorelai chuckled as she remembered the horrified look on her mother's face.

The next was a sexy satiny sheath with every possible angle cut low, exposing almost more skin than it covered. Lorelai just handed it back out of the changing area, saying, "Absolutely not."

Finally then next dress was tolerable. A halter neck of satin covered by delicately embroidered chiffon spilled down to a gored skirt littered with tiny crystals. As she entered the room, her mother gasped, "So beautiful, Lorelai, so beautiful."

"Great, take a picture with my phone. We'll send it to Rory. If she's available, she can give us her opinion. I really like this dress," Lorelai said.

Before the next dress was even on Lorelai's body, a text message had arrived from Rory. "In a meeting, can't talk, but I love that one. Keep the pictures coming."

Another dozen dresses followed with similar results. Lorelai tried multiple shoes, even tested with Emily's wedding tiara on some of the better candidates. Emily's feedback improved with practice, and she began to really understand what Lorelai was looking for.

"It needs to have some real white on it, Mom," after Emily had given her a beige lace gown. "Luke insists on a traditional white. I'm just glad that there are so many whites to choose from."

"A cream will suit you best, Natalie. Not just any cream, but the cream of the Jersey Islands, or perhaps Normandy," explained Miss Celine. "Emily darling, do give Natalie this one. Also this one. Natalie! Try these on."

"Miss Celine, these are gorgeous! I love the hem on this one." Emily was very impressed.

Lorelai glided out in a cream dress with a boatneck bodice, the transparent chiffon embroidered with tiny daisies over a softly tailored satin bustier. A belt across the waist echoed the satin, and the chiffon skirt fell smoothly to the floor.

"Photos for Rory! Photos for Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed.

The last dress began with an open back, edged by chiffon with feather embroidery. In the front it rose to her neck with near-transparent chiffon and just enough Jersey cream satin to give a frame for her shoulders. The form-fitting bodice fell flat to her thighs, with ever-increasing amounts of embroidery and a few scattered crystals. Delicate panels of chiffon escaped from the bottom of the bodice, falling delicately to the floor. With every step she took, Lorelai stirred up a mist of diaphanous silk chiffon, looking as if she had floated to earth on a cloud.

"This one needs a video," said Lorelai, showing her mother how to record. Sending the pictures and video to Rory, they paused for a glass of champagne, which had been carefully hidden away from Richard's eyes so he wouldn't miss the alcohol that he was still forbidden.

Sookie, having broken away from the men in the kitchen, entered just in time to see Lorelai make a turn in the dress, throwing another cloud of chiffon into the air around her feet.

"Rita Hayworth! What a delight to have you join us today. Isn't Natalie a vision?" cried Miss Celine. "Emily, how nice of you to invite Rita to Natalie's fitting."

Lorelai hissed to Sookie, "I'm Natalie Wood and you are Rita Hayworth. Work with it!"

"Oh Lore, um Natalie, that is the most beautiful dress I've ever seen," she breathed as her eyes filled with tears. "Luke (Emily whispered "Gregory Peck"), er, Gregory is going to think that you're an angel come to earth especially for him." Emily poured another round of champagne for all, and they toasted and giggled, the bubbles tickling their noses. A third round freed them enough to discuss the bridegroom's assets.

"Emily," said Sookie, speaking confidentially to Lorelai's mother, at least as confidential as two women in a small space shared with two other women and a hundred wedding dresses can be, "let me tell you, that Gregory has a lot going on under that flannel. His butt alone has had sonnets written about it and Natalie sang a love song to it."

Emily screeched and broke out in laughter. "Natalie, I can see I'm going to have to give back your pasta. Oh, wait, that's sad. You're getting married so fast that there won't be time for a bachelorette party."

"Mom, this is the bachelorette party. I don't need any more than you two by my side, lots of champagne, and very good memories of a very good butt."

More screeching ensued and Miss Celine deftly caught Lorelai's champagne glass as she flopped onto a nearby fainting couch. "Oh mah dears, just the very thought of Gregory's butt sends me into swoons! Smelling salts please! Oh do hurry, I feel the vapors coming on!" The whole crew collapsed in a torrent of giggles and laughter until Lorelai's cell phone broke through their champagne-flavored fog.

"Hello, Natalie here," answered Lorelai.

"Natalie darling, this is Sabrina. How are you doing? No, wait, I can hear how you are doing, very very well." Rory entered the game without missing a beat.

"Sabrina? Do let me talk to her," said Miss Celine. "Sabrina, why ever are you not here with us? We miss you so much."

"Miss Celine, I'm so sorry, I would love to be there, but work has me out in Iowa," said Rory.

"Aah shooting on location, are you? Such are the trials of the beautiful and famous," Celine commiserated with her, handing the phone back to Lorelai.

Emily, tipsy, took a moment to dart out of the room.

"Hi honey, great to hear your voice. Did you get the pictures and the video?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes, Mom, and they are all so beautiful. I don't know how you will choose. Who is there with you?"

"Why, your grandmother of course, although I can't see her at the moment. And Rita Sookie Hayworth has just joined us as well. We've tried on a hundred dresses and sent you pictures of the best. Which one shall I wed Gregory Lucas Peck in, do you think?" Lorelai searched around for her glass, and held it up to Sookie, who was busy giving everyone refills.

"Hi Sabrina! This is Rita! I miss you and wish you were here," shouted Sookie as she poured.

"Me too!" shouted Rory. "And I miss you too, Grandma!" Luckily Emily caught the end of Rory's message as she came back in the room, carrying the infamous pasta. She stuck a bow on it and gave it to Lorelai with a flourish.

Rory added, "Where's Luke,er Gregory? He's not in there with you all, is he? It can't possibly be safe for him there with you in that state."

"Oh no no no, Sabrina, Gregory is off with Richard Burton in his study," said Emily, downing another half glass of bubbly.

"Send me more pictures right now!" Rory's voice got squeaky and excited. "I need to see you all so happy and having fun."

Another round of selfies followed: Emily and Sookie and Celine, Lorelai and Sookie, Lorelai, Emily and Celine, Lorelai and the pasta, Lorelai and Emily both kissing a side of the pasta box.

"Is that the pasta Mom gave you, Grandma? You are so bad," teased Rory. Peals of laughter rang out again.

Lorelai gathered herself together and said, "Everyone gets to choose one favorite dress, I'll take your opinions into account, then make my decision," she said with mock severity.

"The chiffon cloud, Lorelai, no question about it," said Emily.

"That's the one in the video? Yes I choose that one!" squeaked Rory.

"The perfect dress on the perfect woman for the man with the perfect butt," joked Sookie.

"You'll be a star in that dress, Natalie. No more casting couch for you," said Celine.

"You all are so certain?" asked Lorelai. "Yes!" they responded with one voice.

"Me too! This is my wedding dress!" she shouted, then grew very still for a moment.

Drawing a deep breath, Lorelai said, "This is my wedding dress, and I can't bear to take it off. I can't wait to be married, I'm so excited. The next 24 hours will kill me, waiting to be married to Luke, it's an eternity, how will I survive?"

Emily and Sookie, openly crying, helped Lorelai to her feet.

"Steady on, my girl," said Emily, "I managed a whole week of waiting. It was excruciating, but I got through it."

She took her tiara out of her jewelry lockbox while Sookie guided Lorelai to the triple full-length mirror. Sookie took the phone and started recording, so Rory could see her mother's final choice.

Lorelai bent almost in a curtsey so Emily could place the tiara on her daughter's head full of curls. As she stood up to her full height, she saw the bride she had always wanted to be.

"He's the only man I've ever truly loved, I ever truly wanted to spend the rest of my life with. And it's happening, it's finally happening." Lorelai whispered the words.

"I understand, my child, I really do. Those were the same thoughts I had about Richard, forty years ago. Enjoy it, and don't ever let anyone take that away from you." Emily's own heart was overflowing to hear her daughter be able to tell her what was really in her heart.

Celine remained behind to pack Lorelai's dress, Luke's suit, and all their accessories while the three ladies made their way to the kitchen. Still laughing and giggling, just a tiny bit tipsy, they entered the room. The men turned to greet this band of red-faced giggling women, still carrying Rory on the phone. The tiara was still in Lorelai's hair, although rather askew, as she walked over to Luke to kiss him and remind him that she loved him.

Emily walked over to first to Richard, whom she hugged and kissed, to Michel for another hug and a few words of French, then finally she went to Luke, hugged him, and handed him the box of pasta.

The three ladies attacked the cold sample buffet.

The men were dumbfounded, awakening only when a disembodied voice called insistently, "Mom! Sookie! Grandma! Where are we? Who's there?"

"Rory?" asked her grandfather. "What's going on here? Where are you?" Lorelai handed him the phone.

"I'm at work, waiting for the next event to start, Grandpa. I got to help Mom pick out her dress. You are going to love it, it's the most beautiful dress I've ever seen. Tell Luke that."

"Luke, Rory says Lorelai's dress is the most beautiful dress she's ever seen."

Luke, still trying to understand why Emily would give him a box of penis pasta, looked blankly at Richard, then at Lorelai who was so busy eating she didn't even look up. He noticed lipstick on either side of the pasta box.

"Don't worry, young man, this is just the tip of the iceberg with the Gilmore girls," said Richard.

"Oh, I know that, the torture has been exquisite sometimes," Luke answered, utterly bewildered by Emily's gift.

"Ladies, it's so nice to see that you all are enjoying yourselves immensely without having a single sip of alcohol. It's very kind of you to support my recovery this way." The girls giggled and kept eating.

Michel turned discreetly to Luke and said, "Without a single sip? They had more like a hundred sips."

"Grandpa. Grandpa! Can you hear me? I've got to go." Rory shouted.

"All right my dear, we'll talk to you again soon." A chorus of goodbyes and "I love yous" followed. Richard handed the phone over to Luke. "Hang this up please," Richard said.

The crew stood around the kitchen island and tasted the samples Michel and Sookie had brought with them. No adjustments were needed, even Emily was quite pleased.

"An excellent idea to start with lobster puffs. Everyone will have a chance to taste the Maine lobster early," Emily said to Sookie.

"Thanks, Emily. For the dinner proper we'll be serving baked lobster, very easy to manage for a crowd," Sookie replied.

"Lorelai, several of your cousins and aunts and uncles will be coming, of course, but the best news is, I called my younger sister Hopie and she got on a plane almost immediately. She will arrive tomorrow morning, we're picking her up at the airport and we'll bring her tomorrow night. I am so excited! You'll finally get to meet her," Emily continued.

"That's great, Mom, I'm looking forward to meeting her. I'm glad she can come."

"Lorelai, we didn't discuss your bouquet, so I arranged for one for you. I hope that's alright," inquired Michel.

"Michel, that is so sweet of you. Is it one of the bouquets we have in Wedding Package Deluxe Number 4?" she asked.

"Yes, it's the one I've heard you rave about where the flowers cascade down, then sweep off to the left a little. Should be perfect for you." Michel stands up, looking like he's about to explode. "Lorelai, I cannot stand it anymore. Either put that tiara on properly or take it off altogether!" Michel stood up to help her, but she quickly removed it and set it off to the side, giving Michel a kiss and a hug. Michel, unable to resist, picked up the tiara and toyed with it.

"Wedding Package Number 4? You have packaged weddings at the Dragonfly?" asked Luke.

"Yes, my sweet, ever since it was possible to elope to Connecticut, we've offered packages to make it easy to get married at the Dragonfly. Taylor Doose gets a nice little extra cut when he registers the license. His favorite package is the Base Package Number 2, which has a French Country theme. You'd be surprised to see how popular the packages are." Lorelai smiled at her fiancé.

"Wait a minute. You're telling me that when I bet that you couldn't plan a wedding within five minutes, all you did was list the items in Wedding Package 23?" he asked, as it started to dawn on him that he'd been hoodwinked.

"Of course not, Luke. It was Wedding Package Deluxe Number 4. There is no package 23. Also, I didn't 'just' list the things in the package, I added the chuppah." Lorelai's eyes betrayed her inner mirth. "Also Mom doesn't normally cater the dinners," she winks at her mother, "and Patty and Babette sing more than they do invitations."

"Aw, geez, you tricked me! You really did have this all in your head!" Luke looked exasperated.

"No trick, I told you I was an amazing organizer and uberplanner. Every uberplanner has a stack of pre-planned events. That's where the 'uber' part comes from, we plan over and above the rest of the ordinary planners." She planted a big kiss on his lips and stared him down until he broke into laughter.

"Oh man! You hoodwinked me. Why do I let this happen again and again?" complained Luke affectionately.

Richard spoke up. "Remember my comment about the Gilmore Girls iceberg? There you have it. I'm just glad I'm not alone in this anymore." He leaned over and kissed his wife just as Lorelai had kissed Luke.

"What is your punishment, Luke?" Richard added.

"He's got to eat the biggest beef burger in town." interjected Lorelai.

"Oh, I know just the restaurant for that. We'll take you there one evening when you're back from your trip," said Emily.

Richard said, "I'd take that bullet for you gladly, Luke, but doctor's orders forbid it."

"Thanks for the offer anyway, I think I'll manage. It's a debt of honor. Time to rise above the sneakiness of the other party." Luke placed a gentle hand on Lorelai's back, then quickly turned it into a tickle.

"Hey! Stop that, you sore loser!" she cried, grabbing an hors d'oeurvres and throwing it at him.

"Lorelai! Behave yourself! You're a grown woman and a Gilmore!" admonished Emily.

"It's the food-fighting branch of the Gilmores then, Mom." She teased as she stopped the fight and made up with her fiancé.

After Michel and Sookie left, the two couples sat down for some tea and coffee.

"Have you decided when you want to go visit your daughters? I reserved the plane for the next week or so in case you'd like to use it," said Emily.

"We thought we'd call them after the wedding to get their reactions. Then we can find out their schedules and let you know, Mom. This is a really nice gift, thanks," said Lorelai. "Also, thank you for the check." Turning to Luke, Lorelai asked, "You've been told about the check?"

"Richard told me this afternoon. It's very generous of you both," he said, looking at the older pair.

"We couldn't stand to see a Gilmore enter a marriage with unnecessary debt. It's not the way we do things. It's better for a marriage to start on an equal footing, especially financially," said Richard.

"Now there's no more need to create an artificial reason to have Friday Night Dinners, is there, Mom?" asked Lorelai.

"I honestly think you should open a spa at the Dragonfly, Lorelai," said Emily. "The money was offered to make it easier than taking a bank loan."

"Mom, I appreciate both the idea and the loan offer, but Sookie and I are emphatic about keeping things the way they are. We are happy, we love our guests, and we are really having fun with the Dragonfly. So thank you again, but it is a real no."

"And we accept it, don't we, Emily?" Richard prompted, his look insistent.

"Now, about Friday Night Dinners, let's talk about them, OK? I'd like to find a way to make them more fun for all of us," Lorelai stated.

Emily asked, "What's wrong with Friday Night Dinners?"

"Nothing's wrong, Emily, we would just like to change things up once in a while. First of all, Friday is a very busy night at the diner, and Lorelai works on Fridays often as well, because her young staff likes to have Friday evenings free. Another night would work better for us, perhaps during the week? What about you?"

"I um, I don't know. Let me check my schedule and we'll talk about it again later," said Emily, a little disconcerted.

"Mom, we'd also like to do other things together, like how about if we have dinner at the Dragonfly sometimes? Or go to a restaurant? Think about it, OK, and when we're back from visiting the girls, we'll talk again."

Luke looked at his watch and said, "Lorelai, we need to get going. We still have to choose our wedding rings, plus I want to move my belongings into Lorelai's house."

"Our house, Luke, our home," she said, her hand tucked through his arm.


	9. Spontaneous Combustion

Spontaneous Combustion

The suit, dress, tie, silk, backup ties, shoes, backup shoes, tiara and miscellaneous accessories were piled into Luke's truck, nearly filling the passenger seat. Lorelai climbed into the truck from the driver's side and pulled all of the garment bags away from the passenger door while Luke carefully closed it. He got into the driver's seat and pulled away from Emily and Richard's house. They sat in silence for the first miles, processing what had happened.

"It's hard to decide which moment was the weirdest. It might have been Miss Celine calling you Gregory Peck, or maybe it was Michel's fascination with the tiara, or maybe it was the pasta. God, I can't believe my mother kept the pasta," mused Lorelai.

"You knew about the pasta? Where did the pasta come from? What am I supposed to do with that pasta? Anyway, what's wrong with Gregory Peck, 'Natalie'? He's a handsome man, my fiancée tells me I'm a handsome man, I don't see what's wrong with that," grumbled Luke.

"If you don't see any problem with discussing how handsome Gregory Peck is, maybe you better keep the pasta. But no, there's nothing wrong with you thinking he's a handsome man," she deadpanned.

"Natalie." Luke's threat was unspoken, but crystal clear.

"Man, those dresses!" said Luke. "I never saw so much fluffy fabric meringue in my life. Please tell me you didn't choose the one with the hoop skirt and the bonnet. The suits were really nice, though, reminded me of the clothing you bought for me a few years ago."

"You didn't like the hoop skirt?" asked Lorelai.

"It was weird, sure, but I really hated the bonnet. It looked like Bo-Peep had gone zombie, what with that lacy thing that goes around the face. I couldn't use my best kissing moves if you're wearing that."

"OK, my weirdest moment might be this one right now. Did you really check out the dresses and veils to judge the right kissing move to use? Furthermore, you have kissing moves?" Lorelai shook her head, wondering if the champagne was still affecting her. A flash of embarrassment crossed Luke's face.

"No! I don't have kissing moves! It's just that for the wedding I need to think about how to do it right. We have just one shot at the kiss, and I want it to be perfect, so I'm trying to figure it out ahead of time. Is there a veil to lift, are your heels so high I have to reach up to kiss you, stuff like that. That bonnet would be tough to navigate."

"Aww, that's so adorable, you planning the kiss, my little kissy-kissy uberplanner." She planted a kiss on his cheek and lay her head briefly on his shoulder.

"One kiss, just the one shot is all I have. During the ceremony it's also the only thing I have to do except stand up straight, don't fall over and keep breathing. I'm not taking any of these things for granted." Luke's nerves were starting to show through his gruff façade.

"Promise me one thing?" asked Lorelai. "Whatever happens, make sure you take time to enjoy the moment. We're doing this simply, by the book, no fancy vows, no weird additions to the ceremony. We want to get married now so we will be married. I would rather have one delicious Luke kiss that comes from his heart than any cinema-perfect Oscar-nominating Gregory Peck kiss."

"Promised. Will you promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"No bonnet." Her laughter rang out like a bell.

They pulled into a parking space at the back of the diner and stopped. Leaving the wedding clothes in the cab of the truck, they entered through the back door to start packing and loading Luke's belongings. Holding the outside door for Lorelai, he looked at her intently.

"What?" she asked.

"Just trying to figure out how to kiss you under a bonnet," he said teasingly, pulling her close.

"It's only a problem when you're wearing your Mountie hat."

"By the way, that Mountie hat? It's not coming with me. I'm leaving it here."

"What, are you expecting some afternoon delight when the diner gets slow?"

"No hat, it's just not…" Luke looked up the stairs and saw the door to his apartment standing open.

"Wait here and get your phone out in case we need to call the police," he whispered. He bounded up the stairs three at a time and went in. "Holy crap! What happened here?"

Lorelai couldn't wait and followed Luke into the apartment. It was a shambles. Doors were open, his sports trophies were gone, even his Billy Bass had been taken off the wall and was nowhere to be seen.

"Were you robbed?" she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"No, doesn't make sense. The TV is still here and no one seems to have touched the safe." Luke wandered around, trying to remember what might be missing. The closets were empty except for some clothes lying crumpled on the floor.

Luke headed toward the bedroom, but Lorelai stopped and turned around when she heard footsteps on the stairs.

"My bed. They took my bed. They took my trophies and my bed. What the hell?" Luke muttered at the far side of the apartment.

"Is that my big brother? Luke, is that you?" Liz came through the doorway carrying Doula. "Lorelai!" she screamed. "I am so happy to see you! Come here and let me give you a big hug!"

Lorelai walked over to Liz and awkwardly tried to hug her without crushing Doula. Liz leaned in and squeezed her hard.

"Doula! Your precious Doula. Give her to me, I want to hold her!" said Lorelai excitedly as she took Doula from Liz. "Now go tell Luke what's going on. He's very confused."

Liz went to the bedroom where Luke was still muttering, "My bed. Who would take my bed? And what are all these boxes doing here. What's inside them?"

"Luke, I am so excited about the wedding, and so happy for you and Lorelai. You guys finally found your wormhole! My big brother!" She gave him a big hug while he absent-mindedly hugged her back.

"Liz, where's my bed? Where's my stuff? What's in these boxes?" Luke clued into the fact that his relatives were somehow involved in this.

"Oh, it's nothing really. You said that you were going to move to Lorelai's house immediately, so we just helped you out a little."

"Helped me out how? Was TJ involved in this?"

"I called Jess to make sure he was coming to the wedding and asked him to come a day earlier. He managed to organize some people, we got Jackson to help out with his truck, and we moved you! I bet you're really happy about this. Look how much time we saved you!"

"My bed. Lorelai already has a bed. What did you do with my bed?"

"Sure, she had a bed already, but I thought you need some of your own furniture in the house as well, so we moved the bed. The guys are probably just getting it set up over there right now. Isn't that great? Your own bed in Lorelai's house. It's a perfect fit, and we did it all while you were gone, so it's just like a wormhole that we pushed your bed through. Cool, so cool, eh? That gave us room to put a couple of boxes here while we figure out what to do with this big empty space," she said, sweeping her arm around the room.

Luke's eyes narrowed. "The big empty space is supposed to hold my bed. What's in the boxes, Liz?"

"Oh nothing much, just some inventory that we don't need for the Renaissance fairs this summer. I got so much jewelry made last winter, much more than we'll sell at the fairs, that I kinda got an idea."

Liz continued, "You don't need the apartment any more, and I've got lots of inventory, so I was thinking, and it's just an idea, we don't have to do it if you don't want to, but we could open a store up here to sell my jewelry. " Liz beamed with joy at the brilliance of her idea.

"I need my office for an office. You want a jewelry store, up here, above the diner? What are you going to do when you're off on the fair circuit?" He was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

"Why close it, naturally. Of course, if things slow down a little at the diner, you might want to send one of your employees upstairs to sell something once in a while, like two or three days a week. It's just an idea, we can talk about it, we'll do whatever you want," cajoled Liz.

"Let's just get the wedding out of the way first, then we'll talk. When do they start?"

"The first fair is this weekend up in Vermont. TJ's there already, setting up the booth and getting everything ready. I'm going to go right after the wedding. It's Doula's first fair, she is so looking forward to it."

"Doula's with you?" Luke smiled at the thought of his niece. There wasn't any point trying to solve this at the moment.

"Yes, come see her, she misses her Uncle Luke. I'll go downstairs and get those wedding rings I brought for you to try."

She led Luke to the living room, where Lorelai was playing with Doula, who was laughing and grabbing at Lorelai's lips as Lorelai brought her up close to her face and then pushed her away again, making kissy sounds.

Luke stopped dead. Seeing Lorelai like that, so happy, enjoying the baby, overwhelmed him. He walked over to her, took them both in his arms and gave Lorelai a soft kiss, deepening rapidly until his passion pierced her soul, making her weak at the knees. He held them tightly, supporting her as she recovered enough to kiss him back with every fiber of her being.

Panting, they separated, Lorelai still holding Doula, who had been oblivious to the whole scene.

Still breathing heavily, Lorelai said, "That kiss. Tomorrow night. You and me. Keep the fire department on hand in case of spontaneous combustion."

Liz returned to find Luke and Lorelai curled up on the sofa, playing with Doula.

"You two look just perfect there, playing with Doula. You are going to be great parents. It will be so much fun to have our kids playing together, sleepovers, celebrating birthdays. I am so looking forward to that!"

"Yeah, me too, Sis," said Luke, his arm around Lorelai. He hugged her tighter and kissed her on the top of her head.

"We can only hope to be as lucky as you to have such a beautiful baby," said Lorelai, cuddling and cooing with Doula.

"That will be the easiest part, with your dark hair and pretty blue eyes. The hardest part is raising them, as you and I both know from Jess and Rory," said Liz.

"I think the hardest part will be to keep Daddy Luke from spoiling his children, especially if there's a little girl," said Lorelai. "Rory called him an 'old softie' when he spoiled her, and the title was well-deserved. He couldn't resist her."

Luke beamed.

"From what I hear tell, Rory's mother was pretty irresistible too," teased Liz.

"Sadly, she was also pretty dense. It took her a long time to recognize what half the town knew for years. She got her first clue at your wedding, you know. The man can waltz. I think that's what really made the difference." Lorelai relaxed back in to Luke's arms, cradling the sleeping Doula in her own. Luke just fiddled with the edge of Doula's blanket, a sappy smile on his face.

"How about those rings, Liz?" asked Luke, enjoying this moment of Daddy, Mommy and Baby.

"Sure. Now I didn't make these myself, because I don't have the casting equipment yet, but this guy does a great job with gold." Lorelai and Luke tried different sets on, finally choosing a set with a slightly wider band, brushed to give it a matte finish.

Liz closed the deal, packed Doula's things and went out the back door of the diner so she wouldn't accidentally let anyone know that Luke and Lorelai were upstairs. The couple cuddled a while longer on the sofa, playing with their rings, drinking the last of the beer that the moving team had left behind in Luke's fridge.

Eventually they grabbed a few empty boxes and searched through the apartment for Luke's last things: a box of photos, some kitchen tools, especially his spatula, some clean laundry, his personal papers, his autographed home plate.

"This was easier than I thought it would be," said Luke.

"Wait until we see what they left for us at our house," she emphasized. "At least TJ wasn't helping, thank God for small blessings."

"God probably made a special effort to save us from TJ. We can only be grateful for that."

"Save that thought for next Thanksgiving. Better than the smallpox blankets bit we've been using." Lorelai pondered for a moment. "Hah! I just realized that next Thanksgiving we won't have our flowers/vase argument that we have every year, because I have lots of vases," said Lorelai.

"Do we want to have next Thanksgiving at the diner or at home? I haven't given you permission to put any vases in the diner yet," said Luke.

"You're gonna have to, my friend, 'cause I'll be the wife of the proprietor. Mrs. Backwards Baseball cap. You've gotta add me to the insurance so we're covered if a sack of potatoes falls on my head or if I go back into the kitchen and slip and fall on a sharp knife. You'll have to say yes when I decide it's time for a spruce. Vases are the least of your problems," she concluded.

"You still haven't answered my question about where to have Thanksgiving."

"The diner naturally. Do you really want Kirk to come have Thanksgiving dinner at our house?" she asked.

"Good point. The diner it is." Luke was satisfied.

"You will have to make it Thanksgiving lunch instead of dinner, you know," said Lorelai. "Thanksgiving dinner will be, as usual, at the Gilmores. Prepare yourself for two Thanksgiving dinners, Luke."

"There's no way to prepare myself for this future. I'd better just take it as it comes."

"Sounds good, except for the vase. I'm giving you a vase."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just stop giving me flowers?"

"No way. The wife of the proprietor should have flowers for Thanksgiving." Lorelai stretched and yawned. "Let's go home."

Luke's heart warmed at the thought of their home, finally after all these years.

"Yes, let's go home. We're done here." Luke closed the door and they left.

As they pulled into the driveway at the Crapshack, they saw Jackson's truck still there, in addition to Rory's Prius, which she left behind on Monday. Jackson and Jess were sitting on the steps, drinking beer. Lorelai chuckled. "The last time I saw Jackson sitting on my front steps, he and Sookie were waiting to tell me that he'd accidentally broken my doll house."

They got out of the truck, each carrying an armful of wedding clothes, and approached the pair on the porch.

Jackson stood up and said, "Hiya." He avoided looking at Lorelai, instead finding his boots endlessly fascinating.

"Oh Jackson, what did you do now? Please tell me it's not my doll house again. I don't think it can be repaired a second time."

"No, I was very careful around the doll house, and everything went perfectly, at least until we moved the headboard from Luke's bed inside. Luke, you're not gonna kill me, are you?"

"Don't worry, Jackson, it won't hurt at all," said Luke, while Jess stifled a grin.

Jess added, "I know how to get rid of the evidence so no one will ever know he was here."

Lorelai piped up with, "Sookie and I will take the life insurance proceeds and invest them in the Dragonfly."

All three lined up in front of Jackson, giving him their best Godfather stare-down.

"Oh my god, oh my god, you can really do this if you want to! C'mon, it's just the TV, it's not even a big TV. I can replace it! I promise! Oh my god, I'm gonna miss my family. Please don't kill me!"

"But Jackson, don't you want Sookie's inn to be successful? This would be a windfall of cash. We could expand the restaurant, maybe expand the garden. Jess, would it help you if we dug the garden a little deeper?" added Lorelai.

Jackson collapsed on the steps, holding his head in his hands. Lorelai sat down next to him and hugged him. "Aw, Jackson, we were just kidding. Or do you think we're running a Mafia hit squad here? Let's go inside and take a look. I'm sure it's not as bad as it seems."

The TV attached to the wall had taken a direct hit from the headboard. Jackson and Jess had cleaned up the broken glass, but the TV was done for.

"No big deal, Jackson, we'll just get a new TV. I didn't like that one anyway," said Lorelai.

"You're sure? Luke and I can go TV shopping tomorrow if you like."

"Um, no, Jackson. I'm getting married tomorrow, kinds interferes with my shopping time," explained Luke.

"Just wait, you'll find that the groom has lots of time on his hands on the wedding day," said Jackson. "Well, let me know when you want to go get the new TV. Guess I'd better go. Do you want any help with the boxes in the truck?" he added.

"Sure, let's go get the last few boxes, it'll be good to get that done," said Luke.

Darkness had fallen when the three men went out to Luke's truck. Jackson took a large box and headed back into the house. While Jess reached for the next box, he said, "Looks like you finally got what you wanted, Luke. You OK with that?"

"Beyond OK. I woulda thought that going through a test of fire would make me bitter, but it just made the victory sweeter," he philosophized.

"Luke."

"What?"

"I'm totally putting that thought into my next book."

"Do I get a cut of the profits?"

"Sure. You do know that I've never made a penny on any of my books?" asked Jess.

"Yep. Some things take time, but I've got confidence in you," said Luke as he hugged Jess.

"Right back at ya."

Luke gave Jess a brotherly shove with his shoulder as they carried the last boxes into the house.

Jess went over to Lorelai and explained what they had done. "Anything that looked like clothes is upstairs. Kitchen stuff in the kitchen, and everything else is right here. I'm going to help out at the diner tomorrow morning and will bring you guys some breakfast."

"Sounds great, Jess. Thanks for taking care of us. We'll see you tomorrow, then?" Lorelai pulled Jess in for a hug. Luke, poking through his boxes, smiled at the sight.

"Jess?" said Jackson, "I'll give you that ride to Liz' house if you're ready."

Luke and Lorelai thanked the guys and watched them drive away. Going back into the house, Lorelai noticed there were messages on her answering machine.

"We ought to check our machines, find out what's happened since we left that world," said Lorelai.

"I saw my machine in one of these boxes over here," replied Luke. "Ah, here it is. Let me plug it in and," he looked for an outlet and plugged it in, "we're good to go."

They moved quickly through the messages about the diner, with Luke taking notes for callbacks, but they took the time to enjoy the congratulations from Luke's relatives had heard about the wedding from Liz. Andrew and a couple of the guys who played pickup softball, even the manager of the girls' soccer team also had their say.

Charlie, Luke's meat supplier, said, "Luke, I heard the great news congratulations. Wish you all the best, buddy. I still got that half off brats if you need something for the reception."

Lorelai said, "Who eats bratwurst at a wedding?"

Luke chuckled, "Nobody, that's why they're on sale. Charlie's been trying to get rid of those for days."

Franny, Paul, Jim, Randy and Barbara would all be there. "It's been a little hard for me since Petey died," said Franny, "so I think a nice family wedding will cheer me up no end."

Luke rolled his eyes, saying, "Damn parrot. I hope Uncle Louie is teaching him a few new words."

"All cuss words, probably," added Lorelai.

Moving Lorelai's machine over to the coffee table, they took their beer and settled in for a much longer list of messages. Lorelai sat sideways on the sofa and tucked her legs over Luke's. He massaged her feet with one hand while they listened.

Emily had excelled at contacting their relatives, and several were going to attend: Marilyn for sure, who made a point of remembering everything about Luke except his name and the fact that he wasn't a gardener; Totsy would not be there, to which both Lorelai and Luke breathed a sigh of relief.

"This is going to be one big wedding," commented Luke as they fast-forwarded through Totsy's long-winded message.

"What else would you expect for the King and Queen of Stars Hollow?" joked Lorelai. "We haven't even started counting the townspeople."

"Beep!" the next message started.

"Hi Lore, sorry to call you like this, but Rory hasn't been returning my calls. I mean it's not like she has a job or anything, so I thought I'd catch up with her. Give me a call if you've got any information, OK?" Chris spoke with remarkable coolness, given that he had only talked to Lorelai once since they'd divorced.

Nothing could be heard in the house but the sounds of two people breathing.

At length, Luke asked, "Does he know anything about Rory's new job?"

"Only if she told him. He and I have spoken only one time, at Rory's graduation, and then only for a couple of minutes," answered Lorelai.

Thinking for a moment, she continued, "I'll call Rory and tell her he wants to speak with her."

Lorelai reached over to the machine and pressed the Delete button for that message. "I think it's time to record a new outgoing message on our machine. Will you do it?" she asked.

"Depends."

"Depends on what, Luke?" Lorelai's voice began to fade.

"If you want a crazy message like you usually have on your machine, then you're going to have to help. I'm no good at thinking of that fruity stuff. Straight, direct 'We're not here, leave a message,' that I can handle," he said.

Lorelai perked up, nudged Luke's arm and said, "We could do a song. Or maybe one of those messages where each of us alternates saying one word. Or a poem! "

"How about we start with the plain message?" he suggested, with a look that said he meant it.

"Yes, we can work on the song when we've got more time, OK? You've got a good voice," she smiled.

Next message came from Stan, a distant cousin of Lorelai. "Lorelai, Emily called us with the news, so wonderful, congratulations! Say, I was thinking, since you never returned the ice cream machine we sent you last time, why don't you just keep it as your wedding present?"

"Fernando! We finally found your parents!" cried Lorelai. Luke looked puzzled, and Lorelai said, "You remember the ice cream machine? These are the people who gave it to me without leaving a card."

The cousin nattered on about this and that. "Oh, and we have good news. Our little Carter now has a baby sister, and she is just as cute as he was when he was a baby. We'll be sure to send you a Christmas card. Anyway, congratulations again!"

"Ugly baby! Ugly baby sent us the ice cream maker! I can't wait to tell Rory! I'm going to go leave her a voicemail. Hon, do you want to go ahead and record our outgoing message? That was the last message on this machine."

When Luke started recording, Lorelai wandered off so her voice wouldn't be heard in the background. Waiting for the voicemail to start, she noticed the garment bags hanging on Rory's door. She fiddled with their wedding clothes while she waited to speak. "Rory, hon, you remember ugly baby? Turns out, ugly baby sent us Fernando the ice cream maker. Better yet, ugly baby has a baby sister! Stan promised us a picture of the new ugly baby for Christmas."

She continued, "Also, it looks like you haven't told your father about your new job. He called here and asked if your phone number was still good. You ought to give him a call to let him know."

Lorelai heard Luke wrestling with the answering machine. "No! Too wussy. Try again." Pause. "Dammit! My voice doesn't sound like that!"

"Sugar, I'd better go before our answering machine ends up as broken as the TV. Love you, call Mommy and Stepdaddy soon."

She ended the call and got back out to the living room just as Luke was finishing a perfect recording. Walking by, she pinched his butt. "Ow! Stop that!" he said. Lorelai leaned past him and pressed the Save button.

"Perfect answering machine message. Thanks, doll," she said.

"We can't leave it like that. People are gonna know," he said.

"Hon, people already know you have a delectable butt. You're going to have to accept that sometime, preferably before it falls. Speaking of accepting, why don't you come upstairs and help me choose my lingerie for my wedding night? I wouldn't want to disappoint my husband," she said suggestively as she tugged on his hand.

"Yeah? What do you have in mind?" he replied with a last regretful look at the answering machine.

Lorelai slowly made her way up the first few steps, turned her head and said, "There's a whole drawer full of suggestions upstairs, but I'm thinking glass slippers, backwards baseball cap and nothing else."

"Let's go." He chased her up the stairs.


	10. License to Wed

"What's the verdict?" Luke asked, placing a kiss on top of Lorelai's head as she lay half-asleep in his arms.

"Good."

"Good how?" he joked. "That was not what I wanted to know. What's the verdict on the bed? Do we keep this one here, or do we move your old one back in?"

She sighed, sleep fighting for dominance. "This one - it's more comfortable, and it's your bed."

"It was my bed, now it's our bed."

"Good. I like the headboard. Strong. Solid."

"Did I tell you I made it? Didn't like any of the beds in the store, so I just made one."

"What did I tell you? It's your bed. That's why I like it." Lorelai's eyes barely opened this time.

Luke rubbed her shoulder affectionately and said, "Go to sleep."

He slid down to lie flat in the bed and put one arm behind his head. He was sleepy too. It had been both a long night and a short night. The short part was fun, even though there weren't really any glass slippers. The silvery heels made a nice substitute, though.

The long part was harder. Here, together again in this familiar place, the emotions of the last months came crashing down on them. Regrets and apologies were repeated, acknowledged, and accepted again. Tears flowed, new vows were made. Luke forgave Lorelai, and she forgave him. One of Lorelai's best traits was her ability to forgive and forget, really forget. Forgetting was harder for him, but his forgiveness was real too.

"Luke." Lorelai stirred again. "You need a workshop."

"I've got a workshop."

"No, you've got a tiny corner in an old garage and you borrow tools from other people. You need a space to work, with the proper tools, where you can leave your projects out until they're finished."

"OK." It was useless to disagree with Lorelai when she was sleepy. It wasn't much better when she was awake, so he saved his energy for the important issues.

"Good. That's first on the list for the expansion. After rooms for the kids, of course."

"You've thought this through already? When do you find the time?"

"Just the easy stuff. We'll make Rory's old room into a sewing room/office, and add three bedrooms and a bath in the extension for the kids. The rest we'll have to fight out with my mother."

"Three bedrooms?"

"Umm-hmm. By the time our kids get old enough to need their own rooms, Rory and April will be on their own, so we'll have the space."

"That's my little uberplanner. Go to sleep, you've got a long day tomorrow."

"When I'm awake, remind me to make the honeydo list."

"Honeydew? Like the melon?"

Lorelai chuckled softly. "No, silly, like 'Honey, do this' and 'Honey, do that.'"

"I already know what needs to be done around here."

"Furniture for the extension, like bookshelves, or a toy box, or a rocking horse, it's not just things that need to be fixed. We'll figure it out."

"I'm sure we will. Now I need to sleep, and so do you. There's time for lists and plans later."

"Now do you see why you need a workshop?" she said.

"I'm asleep. Don't bother me." Luke's voice was getting rough and grumpy.

"I'll come out in the evenings and watch you cut things and sandpaper things."

"Snoring, can't hear you."

"Maybe I'll wear my short shorts."

"Buzzsaw, snoring like a buzzsaw. And you're wearing protective clothing in the shop. Steel-toed shoes, protective glasses, long pants."

"Buzzsaw, first tool on the list."

"Sigh."

The next morning, Lorelai came downstairs, freshly showered, her hair in a towel. Luke was still emptying his boxes in the living room, having already finished the kitchen.

"Why do people keep so much useless stuff? Look at this worthless crap I've still got. I could have packed my clothes and three boxes and been completely fine. Could have put a match to the rest, and I never would have missed a thing," he said.

"Remind me to do the packing if we ever move," said Lorelai. She took the towel off and fluffed her hair so it could air dry.

"Lorelai, I think you'd be a lot happier if I cleaned out the garage and some of these closets," he said, "and you wouldn't even remember what I got rid of."

"Luke, I love you."

"Yeah, and I love you. That doesn't mean we don't have too much stuff," he said.

"It does mean that we can't get rid of anything unless we both agree it should go," she countered. "All I have to do to convince you is give you the right incentive, and I've got a whole drawer full of incentive upstairs, mister."

"You, however, get quite impatient under pressure, and I know just how to apply the right pressure," he said, as he took her in his arms and pressed up against her body.

She put her arms around his neck, kissed him, and whispered in his ear, "No one will ever win the battle of the sexes; there's too much fraternizing with the enemy."

"Let's start with that box of video tapes in the closet. We don't even have a VCR anymore. And I'm voting to not replace the TV, because we've got better things to do," he said suggestively. "Like breakfast. Coffee's ready, and Jess brought some food over from the diner."

"We need to be at Taylor's at 10 to get the license," said Luke, as they ate their breakfast, "don't forget the divorce papers. He'll be a pain if we don't have everything ready. Afterwards the Reverend and the Rabbi asked us to stop by to finalize details for the ceremony."

"Lorelai? Hey doll, are you there?" Babette called from outside the back door.

"Come on in, Babette! We're in the kitchen," Lorelai answered.

"You guys are decent, right? I'm comin' in!" Babette said as she entered. Hugs all around as Babette congratulated them. Luke got her a cup of tea and she joined them at the table.

"Lorelai, honey, was everything OK last night? I was up a couple of times and I saw a light on in Rory's room." Lorelai blushed a little.

"I kept going down to look at my wedding dress. First I thought it didn't fit right, so I tried it on. Later I couldn't remember what the back looked like so I had to put it on again."

"How many times did you put that dress on last night?" asked Luke. He stood up to refresh Lorelai's coffee.

"Four times," she said, slightly embarrassed.

"No wonder you didn't get much sleep," he said, smoothing his hand over her hair.

"Right, it was trying on her dress. That and all the loud sex going on upstairs in the bedroom," said Babette. "Way to go, Luke!" She nudged him as she stood up to leave. She gave Lorelai a kiss and left, saying, "Morey and I will see you all tonight. Morey, I'm comin' home!"

Luke flopped down in his chair. "How about if we put soundproofing the bedroom at the top of our remodeling list?"

Lorelai nodded.

"Welcome, welcome!" Taylor greeted the happy couple. "Luke and Lorelai, it's so nice that you are finally getting married. Merging two of the most respected families of Stars Hollow is a big big event, very important to all of us. Make sure you don't let us down, OK?"

"We aren't going to let you down, Taylor, because the town doesn't have any right to…" Luke was interrupted by Lorelai, who grasped his hand, practically squeezing the life out of it.

"What we're saying, Taylor, is we're very glad that you're taking the time to prepare our marriage license, and that you'll be there tonight, representing Stars Hollow. Having the Selectman there at our wedding is an honor," schmoozed Lorelai.

"How nice of you to say that, Lorelai. I will do my best. Now, let's get down to business. Do you have all the paperwork you need for the license? Photo ID, personal data, all looks very good. Now, Luke, do you have your divorce papers with you?" asked Taylor.

"Here you go, Taylor, the decree is right on top," said Luke.

"Good. That's all that I need, then. Give me just a few minutes and I'll have that all ready for you." He hands the papers off to his secretary. "There's another topic I'd like to discuss with you, Luke."

"Hey, wait a minute, Taylor, don't you need Lorelai's divorce papers?" asked Luke, as Lorelai nodded in agreement.

"Lorelai, you have divorce papers? Cute. Those bureaucrats are funny sometimes," said Taylor.

"Taylor, I don't understand. Can you please explain?" asked Lorelai. "I got married in France, and got divorced a few months ago. What's the problem? Will it stop us from getting a marriage license?"

"It's actually quite simple, Lorelai. It's not possible for two foreigners to get married in France as quickly as you did. First, you have to be made a resident of the place you want to get married in, then you have to post the banns, and all of that has to take at least 40 days. You were in France for a total of 8 days, and not a resident anywhere. Whatever ceremony you may have gone through in France, it wasn't a legal marriage ceremony."

Lorelai's jaw dropped. When she recovered, she said, "But, but then how could I have gotten a divorce? Why didn't someone tell me I wasn't legally married?"

Taylor explained further, pleased to play the expert. "Simple. Pretty much every divorce petition asks when and where you were married, but they don't ask for proof, nor do they check. Your fake marriage was completely irrelevant to the divorce proceeding. As a matter of fact, you didn't even need to get divorced, since you were never legally married."

Luke and Lorelai sat in stunned silence.

"Did you not know this?" asked Taylor. "I'm surprised, but the point remains, we don't need your divorce papers."

"Taylor, how about you do us a little favor and include them anyway, just in case some bureaucrat somewhere far away from here is wrong? I'd hate to go through a big bureaucratic mess with someone who doesn't have your knowledge." Luke stretched himself to make sure Taylor remained cooperative.

"Why Luke, that's actually a very good idea, although the inclusion of unnecessary papers is quite irregular. But I also need a favor, and I think you might be able to help, so maybe one hand can wash the other."

"What is it, Taylor?" asked Lorelai. "You know we'd help if we can, just for the good of Stars Hollow." The steam which had been building under Luke's collar dissipated. Having Lorelai Gilmore on your side was a pretty good thing sometimes. For Luke Danes, it seemed to be a good thing all the time.

"It's like this, Lorelai, we've lost a few of our retail shops recently, and curiously enough they were all ceramic unicorn shops. As a community we need a thriving retail base and I'm asking all local businesses to use their networks to entice new retail businesses here. And I'd like you two to lead the effort by finding the first business."

"Taylor, my friend, we have got a deal. I believe that I can get you at least one new retail business, maybe as soon as the end of the summer," said Luke, standing up with a big smile on his face. "Now how about you add Lorelai's papers to our application?"

"Consider it done Luke. Ah, here are the papers back. I will just add these details to the application here, and here, and then finally here. If you two will sign here, and then here, yes Lorelai, that's exactly right. OK, let me just review these documents one last time." Taylor took a long minute to check everything step by step.

Lorelai whispered to Luke under her breath, "What do you have in mind? You have something planned, and I want in on it!"

"Hush!" he said. "I've got a great idea. Be patient. Here's a teaser: we'll kill two birds with one stone."

"Oh! Lorelai, are you going to be changing your name? What will the new name be?" added Taylor.

"I've chosen to change my name to Lorelai Gilmore Danes," she replied with a smile. "Where does that go on the application?"

"Nowhere, I just wanted to know. Now here is your license. It needs to be signed by the officiant, I presume you're using the Reverend or the Rabbi, so they are very familiar with the process. You should have no problems whatsoever. I give you my heartiest congratulations for a long and happy marriage."

Once back on the street, marriage license in hand, Lorelai and Luke stared at each other, shell-shocked.

Lorelai started. "Did you notice that every simple thing we try to do for this wedding has turned out weird? Why didn't I know I was never legally married? How could I get a divorce from a marriage I wasn't in?"

Luke continued. "Did you hear him negotiate for us to bring in a new business? He attached strings to our marriage license! And the nerve of that guy asking about your married name, when it was none of his business! Geez!"

"Do you realize it's only 11 a.m.? Our wedding isn't until 7.30. There's a lot of time for more weirdness. I'm kinda curious to find out what happens next," said Lorelai.

They began walking in the direction of the church. As they walked, the Reverend and the Rabbi, who had been walking together, caught up to them. All four fell into step.

"Archie, David, nice to see you," Lorelai said as the four stopped in front of the church.

"Good to see the two of you together," said Archie.

"We're looking forward to the wedding this evening. Shall we keep walking rather than go into the church? Archie and I like our daily walks together," finished David.

"Sure, sounds great. Here's our license," said Luke. "You'll take care of the details?"

"Sure, Luke, we've got it handled. What's the plan, Lorelai? Does the chuppah mean you want to have a Jewish ceremony?" asked David, as they started walking again.

"No, guys, we're actually doing the straight version of Dragonfly Wedding Package Deluxe Number 4," said Lorelai. "Non-denominational ceremony, plain simple vows, nothing fancy. Which of you will officiate?"

"Got it, Lorelai, that's actually our favorite package. Much better than the package that includes the couple's pets. We haven't decided who will officiate yet," Archie said. "We're playing Old Testament trivia, first one to get 20 questions right wins."

"Luke," asked David, "Any chance of you starting a chuppah-making business? I know of a few people who would love to have one. Your work is just beautiful."

"David, what is a chuppah, anyway?" asked Lorelai. "Is it OK that we use it, when we're not Jewish?"

"Sure, no problem to use a chuppah, many people do. It symbolizes the married couple's home, although in earlier days, the actual marriage was accomplished by simply standing under the chuppah together," he said.

"Lorelai, do you remember that we stood under the chuppah together when I brought it over to your house?" Luke asked, feeling the weirdness coming again.

"That means we've been married since 2001. How strange is that?" she marveled, looking at her "chuppah-husband."

"Many scholars don't agree with that opinion. You two were not married in 2001 in any legal sense of the word just because you stood together under a chuppah," said David, "so you don't have anything to worry about."

"I'm not sure I want to know, but I have to ask. What about Gilbert?" Lorelai asked.

"Gilbert?" asked Archie.

"The goat. I put a goat on the chuppah," said Luke. "It was in the photo, so I carved a goat and put it on the chuppah. What does the goat mean, fertility? A curse? Human sacrifices?"

Archie replied, "A goat can mean all of those things, but there isn't any clear meaning for a goat on a chuppah, right David?"

David nodded.

"Thank God for that." Luke breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good idea, Luke," said David. "We'll see you tonight, then."

"Why don't you guys head over to the diner for lunch on me? Just tell Caesar I sent you, and get there before one, because he's closing early to prepare for the wedding," called Luke after them.

"Do you want to go to the diner, too, Lorelai?" he asked, putting his arm around her waist.

"No, we need to be getting to the Dragonfly. It's going to take all afternoon to get ready," she answered.

"For you, maybe. I've got to shower, dress and stand where I'm told to stand. Probably not going to take six hours." Nonetheless, they turned in the direction of the Crapshack.

"True, but it's a plot to keep the groom locked up so he can't get away. Can't take a chance that he'll bolt." She grinned at him.

"I do have options, though," replied Luke. "Since we know about our chuppah marriage, we don't really need the ceremony at all. We could go to a baseball game instead. Jess would like it."

"You're suggesting that a symbolic and fictional marriage is an appropriate substitute for the two of us standing in front of our loved ones, the whole town, exchanging vows for eternity?" asked Lorelai skeptically.

"Eternity was the time it took before we consummated our chuppah marriage. Four years, four long damn years." He pulled her to him as he started to think of what might have been.

Lorelai waved her hand in front of Luke's eyes.

"Fictional, Luke! Symbolic! At best it would have been a symbolic consummation! How would that have been?" Lorelai swatted him lightly on the chest.

"Symbolic? Hmm, probably not as good as a real consummation. Wonder if it would have been as good as phone sex," he pondered.

"Earth to Luke! This offer is good for today and today only: A beautiful dream wedding with yours truly, all real, all flesh and blood, followed by a non-symbolic consummation tonight. Or, you can go to a baseball game with your nephew and continue to ponder the benefits of phone sex and symbolic consummation. Make your decision now." Lorelai stepped back from him, crossed her arms, and stared at him defiantly.

"The game IS a double-header," he said, pretending to ponder.

"Who said the real consummation won't be?" she replied as she turned on her heel and walked off.


	11. Wedding Day

Wedding Day

Lorelai and Luke blew into the Dragonfly in the early afternoon, followed by helpers carrying the wedding regalia they had brought with them.

Michel greeted them as he would any important wedding party; he displayed the appropriate amount of politeness along with a marked show of disinterest. He looked as bored as the two dogs curled up in a yin-yang position in their dog bed back in a secluded corner of the front porch. Paw-Paw and Paul Anka were snoring away in the bed, which had been embroidered with the Dragonfly logo.

Lorelai was bombarded with hugs and kisses by the rest of the staff, while Sookie greeted Luke with a personal and somewhat over-emotional hug.

Michel, managing the inn, with Christy as the wedding planner, took Lorelai and Luke out to the back of the inn, where the wedding was being set up. After a brief round of introductions, Michel went back into the inn to run the front desk.

"Lorelai," said Christy, "you see, I hope, that this is the standard package number 4. As usual, the groom will come from the inn and stand over here, accompanied by the best man. Will there be a best man?"

"Yes, my nephew Jess could be here already, I haven't heard from him yet today, but he's on his way," said Luke.

"Great, we'll have someone get you when it's time to go to the front. That's really all you have to do during the wedding, Mr. Danes," Christy said. Smiling, she added, "Don't forget to kiss the bride, of course."

Christy turned to Lorelai and asked, "Have you decided on bridesmaids and if you'll be escorted down the aisle?"

"Yes, Sookie will be the matron of honor, my only attendant, and my father and I discussed the aisle walk, but he's not feeling steady enough health wise to do it, so I'm on my own," Lorelai said.

"Flowers are being set up as you see; deep pink and white, Sookie has a dress that coordinates. Your bouquet, matron of honor flowers and boutonnieres will be in your dressing rooms. Lorelai, we have you in Room 12, and Mr. Danes in Room 4, overlooking the back garden."

Luke was starting to look a little disoriented, given the myriad decisions that Lorelai and her team had made. Lorelai migrated to his side, taking his hand in hers.

"Christy, you should probably call him Luke, since he'll be taking an ownership stake in the Dragonfly. Sookie and I are having the agreements drawn up to convert his investment stake to a percentage ownership."

"OK, Luke and, Jess, I think you said? will be in Room 4. We've got you set up with some snacks and beverages, and there's a doubleheader playing on TV, Red Sox, I think." Christy, with Sookie's help, had considered everything a groom might need to pass the long hours before the wedding.

"The chuppah is over there, as you see. Mr. Da… um Luke, that is a lovely archway. We'll be very careful and return it to your home after the wedding," added Christy. Luke's chest puffed up a bit in pride and he stood a little taller. Gilbert the goat had been his only companion as he painstakingly carved the chuppah that summer, working out his despair and pain at the thought of Lorelai marrying Max. It was a testament to love and persistence that they had been able to survive so many trials and still be standing here today.

"When the wedding is over, there will be photos in the lower garden, down that hill over there," she pointed, then continued, "and the buffet will be set up here, with the wedding party's tables over there, not too far from the dance floor. The rest of the seating will be back there, without seating charts, we will just accommodate anyone who comes."

"The music is back behind the dance floor. Oh, it looks like Lane is there setting up. Who will handle the music choices?" asked Christy.

"I'll talk to Lane, if you don't mind, Lorelai," said Luke. "I'd like to check in with her about a couple of things. Do you have any special music you want?"

"No, we've talked already about the general music program, so I'm good. It's getting time for me to go to the dressing room. My hair alone is going to take a while. Mom and Aunt Hope are coming within the hour, and I want to connect with Rory if she's available. Christy, please make sure there is a reserved seat for my mother's sister next to my parents."

"OK, so we'll split here and meet at the altar?" Luke gulped as the enormity of the event hit him. Lorelai's smiling eyes and sweet hug and kiss reassured him a little.

"Don't worry, darling, it will be over soon. In the meantime, you can watch one doubleheader and ponder the second one coming later tonight."

He placed his hands on the back of her head and leaned in to whisper, "Dirty! I get it. Wait until I get my doubleheader. I love you, Lorelai, see you very soon. " He kissed her deeply, hanging onto her as if her scent could seep into his bloodstream, acting as a sedative to keep him calm over the next few hours.

Christy took the extra-long hug as a sign to step away from the couple until they were ready to talk to her again, and she went over to make some unneeded adjustments to a flower arrangement. Her favorite part of the job was the privilege of watching lovers like these fulfill their dreams. It never got boring.

"This is fun, but it's utterly unimportant, remember that, OK, Luke? This is a little party we put on for everyone else, to give them a memory. For me, I love you, always will, and nothing can change that." Lorelai pulled some of Luke's anxiety out of him with her kiss.

Luke ended up in Room 4 all by himself, which again fueled his anxiety. He paced to the balcony, then back into the room, wondering how the heck he was going to survive the next half-dozen hours. He laughed silently at the irony. The same man who waited for Lorelai Gilmore for eight years wasn't able to wait eight more hours.

A knock on the door brought a waiter bringing lunch for a small army, and gloriously, enough beer for that same army.

Luke took off his jacket, popped the cap off a beer, and flopped onto one of the beds. He took several deep breaths, then remembered the baseball game, so he turned on the TV. Commercials. He hated commercials. He turned the TV back off again and resumed pacing.

Back on the balcony, he looked at the preparations. "God, even if it's just Package Number 4, this is crazy. All those flowers! Why the heck did they put pillowcases over the chairs?" Luke's musings were interrupted by a quiet knock on the door, followed by Jess entering the room. Luke strode over to him saying, "Pillowcases! They've put pillowcases over the chairs! Why would any sane person do that?"

"Man, calm down! You look like crap!" Jess said. "You call this the happiest day of your life?"

"Nice to see you too, and you're not helping. What the hell are we going to do until 7:25 when we change our clothes, walk downstairs and stand in one place waiting for whatever is going to happen next?"

"Luke, I'm hungry and I'm tired, can you keep the ranting to a minimum for a while? How about if we eat some of these sandwiches here and have a beer, then we'll figure out the rest of the afternoon?" Having just left the stress of Liz' house, Jess thought a beer would be perfect.

Fifteen minutes later, they were in exactly the same state, except their hunger was gone.

"What now?" asked Jess.

"I don't know," said Luke. "I do know I can't stand it here anymore. I need to do something. Oh crap, I forgot to talk to Lane. C'mon, let's do that, then take a walk. I've got to keep moving, or I'll make myself crazy."

"Can't make something crazy that already is, Luke," observed Jess.

Lane had finished setting up and was creating the setlist when Luke and his nephew arrived at the DJ station.

"Hey Luke, congratulations! Are you here to look at the music?" Lane took off her headphones and pulled out the setlist.

"Lane, Lorelai chose you because she knows you can find great music for us, so mostly I don't care about most of the choices. There are a few things, though, that we do want. The Pachelbel for the processional, and she wants Ella Fitzgerald's "From This Moment On" for the recessional. We agreed that there's only one first dance song for us as well."

"I know, I know, Reflecting Light. Sam Philips version, got it," said Lane.

"And the second dance, when I have to dance with Lorelai's mother, let's do the Ella song again, OK?" asked Luke.

"Got it," said Lane. "Anything else?"

"No, that's it. We'll see you later tonight, and thanks. You've done a great job to pull this together so fast," answered Luke.

They walked in silence until they came into town. As they walked past the Twickham House, Luke stopped. He hadn't been near the house in months. Someone had leased the house, intending to run some sort of service business, he couldn't remember what had been discussed in the diner, but the business had failed before it started, so it didn't matter anyway.

The house itself was worse for the wear. The modifications had been started, but not finished, and the house looked decrepit. Windows were cracked, the paint was peeling. Regardless of all the problems he and Lorelai had faced over the past couple of years, they had at least dodged this bullet – they didn't drown in debt over a Twickham House remodel. The building had remained the property of the town, and Stars Hollow would have to figure out the next step.

"This is a wreck of a place," said Jess. "Like millions of other overbuilt, useless structures. What's this one to you, Luke?"

"Nothing. You've gotta let go of the past to build the future, that's all. How's your future looking?" asked Luke.

Jess replied, "Been doing a hell of a lot of letting go, but I'm letting the future take care of itself."

"Sounds about right at your age," his uncle replied.

Luke was greeted with handshakes and congratulations as he entered the diner with Jess. He hung up his suitcoat, then he and Jess began busing tables, which were a bit of a mess due to the lunch rush and both Luke and Lane being away from the diner.

Caesar took the chance to get Luke caught up on the wedding preparations. "Luke, I've got appetizers ready, plus potatoes gratin for the dinner, and lots of pies for those who don't want wedding cake." Luke patted him on the shoulder and thanked him for the effort.

It felt good to Luke to jump right into his routine. The past week had been insane, it was simply unbelievable how much his life had changed in those few days. He wasn't used to getting everything he wanted, but that's what had happened. Luke Danes had finally acted fast enough.

He looked around and saw Taylor Doose finishing his lunch. No point in waiting now, either.

"Taylor, what's up with the Twickham house?" Luke asked, bending over to speak to Taylor quietly. He placed the palms of his hands on the table. Taylor had been eating, but was facing the window into the Ice Cream Shoppe so he could keep an eye on the employees. Luke's back was to the rest of the diner and, bending over with his coat off, one of his best assets was easily observed by anyone with an interest in the male form, no flannel to hide anything today.

Some women who were sitting on the opposite side of the diner, noticed the handsome diner owner when he came through the door. This new view of Luke set off a bit of soft chatter among them.

"Oh Luke! Well, don't you look nice? How exciting to be just a few hours away from your wedding. It certainly is a big day for Stars Hollow, our two finest entrepreneurs merging their enterprises. Next thing you know, there will be a conglomerate, and you'll franchise Dragonfly Inns and Luke's Diners worldwide. International Headquarters – Stars Hollow. Big, this could be big." Taylor dreamed for the whole town.

"Sure, Taylor, yeah, but don't you think we ought to get Stars Hollow ready for the giant conglomerate? I mean, take a look at the Twickham House – the town owns it, but it's falling apart. How are we going to attract the right kind of businesses if that eyesore is falling down right in the middle of town?"

"You have a very good point, Lucas, a very good point. Maybe we should completely remodel the house and see if we can sell it to an executive," Taylor said.

"Sure, that's one of the many options we have." Luke drew Taylor in.

"Options? What options?"

"Well, it could be a nice gym, to promote fitness and health, or maybe some doctors' offices?" suggested Luke.

"Yes, I'm starting to see. We do have options. Tell me more."

Luke's creativity was starting to wane. "Perhaps a neighborhood park? It would be cheap to build, and parks draw new families to an area. Great for kids."

"Thinking ahead, Luke, to your future progeny? Hmmm. Doose Memorial Park. Sounds great. Let's go forward with that idea, Luke." Taylor paused, considering Luke's changed behavior. "Luke, this is a new side of you, this thinking about the best for the town. I like it."

"Glad to hear it, Taylor, Doose Memorial Park's a great idea. That'll be a much better legacy than the Twickham House falling down around your ears," finished Luke.

Taylor, imagining his ruined reputation, made a mental note to get started on the demolition of the Twickham House as soon as possible.

In the meantime Jess had been lassoed by the women on the other side of the room, asking who Luke was. When they learned he was Luke of Luke's Diner, they were quite pleased.

"Jess! We ought to get back, are you ready? Caesar, we'll see you later, OK?" called Luke.

One of the women made it over to the coat rack where Luke was just putting on his suitcoat again. She edged inappropriately close to him and asked, "Excuse me, are you THE Luke?"

"What? THE Luke? Don't know what you mean. I'm Luke Danes, and this is my diner, if that's what you wanted to know."

She smiled a little too big and said, "I just wanted to compliment you on the lunch, my friends and I really enjoyed it." She touched him on the arm.

"Great, thanks, come again, will you?" He tried to open the door, but couldn't because she was coincidentally in the way.

She clutched at a straw: "I was also wondering where you got that lovely shirt? Such a nice color and that texture is something really special." She reached out and fingered the fabric.

By this time, Jess was smiling his knowing smile, watching to see what happened next.

"What? Oh, I don't know, something my fiancée picked up somewhere. Next time you come in, you'll have to ask." Luke got a clue what was happening. "Except by that time, she'll be my wife. Just ask for Mrs. Danes. I'm sure she'll be happy to tell you where to go. To buy the shirt, of course."

Luke wasted no time in pulling Jess in-between himself and the woman as they got the heck out of the diner.

* * *

><p>Lorelai's perfume hung lightly in the air in Room 12. She'd finished her shower; her hair was ready to be styled. Lorelai was in her element. The wedding preparations were essentially done; she had nothing to do except get ready.<p>

"Blip dee beep!" The computer on the desk signaled an incoming call.

"Rory! So glad you've got time to talk. I'm bored. Entertain me," Lorelai said. "I'm nearly ready, and so calm you won't believe it."

"Hi Mom, yes, I've got lots of time at the moment. We can be called away at any point, but until then, it's wedding all the way. You do have everything ready for the webcast, right? And it's being recorded?" Between this new job and Logan's travels, Rory had become technically savvy in the past year.

"OK, let me take you on a tour of the room. The dress is hanging here, and here's Sookie's dress, gorgeous, isn't it? Shoes, jewelry, tiara, it all meets your approval? Now come look at the flowers. Christy and Michel did a great job picking these out, there are boutonnieres for all the major actors. Sookie's bouquet has colors to match her dress and here's my bouquet."

She showed a long cascade of dark pink and white flowers, many similar to the flowers Luke had given her on the day of the Dragonfly's test run. "There are tiny white and pink flowers to go in my hair if I want. No baby's breath, you know what Emily will say. Did I tell you Hope is coming today? Mom has gone to meet her at the airport and then they're coming straight here. I don't remember ever seeing her in real life, although I'm sure I did."

"Love the bouquets, I'm not so sure about flowers in your hair, though, when there's a tiara as well," said Rory.

"The flowers in the hair are important, because I want to remind Luke of the waltz, but I don't want to duplicate the wreath I wore that evening to Liz' Renaissance wedding."

"Tricky, maybe Grandma will have some advice. I know she picked right for you when she suggested the tiara."

"We'll see. Part of me is still half-waiting for some old Emily to pop up and say something awful. It's like I'm one of those moles in the whack-a-mole game at the arcade. Sooner or later she's gonna hit, and it will hurt."

"Mom, I don't think so. You totally aced the wedding when you called her right after you called me. When Grandma and I have talked this week, she just kept talking about how she's looking forward to tonight. She's also very proud of how much you let her help and has worked really hard to not push her own wishes on you."

"That's an Emily I can certainly get along with. Oh, that reminds me, Luke and I are going to be planning the addition to the house, a gift from Mom and Dad. How do you want your room to be?"

"The most important thing for me is to have my own bathroom, is that possible? After all those years at Yale, I still have to share bathrooms sometimes, especially when we get put up in someone's home for a night." Rory sighed. Road travel couldn't compare with the nice apartment she'd shared with Logan, or even her little room in the Crapshack. Still, there were some exciting moments on the campaign trail that helped make up for the boredom.

"A private little corner just for you. Grandma will move heaven and earth to make that happen. I just hope the back yard is big enough. We might have to put the entrance to the addition through your old room, hope you can survive that."

"I've survived two nights on the bus already. Since you're promising me something bigger and better, I'm good with your decisions. What about April, and maybe someday other siblings?" Rory prodded. She was hoping to find out if they still planned more children. She couldn't imagine any better parents.

"You call yourself a reporter, but you're not going to win the Pulitzer for subtlety, kid of mine. We've already talked about a lot of things, and kids are very high on the list." Lorelai had a smile in her voice that Rory could hear over the distance.

"High like eye level? High like stretching on your tippy toes? High like a fireman's ladder truck?" Rory chuckled, anticipating Lorelai's answer.

"High like Kilimanjaro. High like a moon landing. High like we already threw away the birth control." Rory clapped her hands with delight. Lorelai turned to her dressing table and fiddled with her makeup. She was glad Rory was looking forward to a sibling, but didn't want her to feel as if she was being pushed out. At the same time, Lorelai had a twinge in her heart knowing Rory would only occasionally use her new bedroom.

"Mom, turn and look at me."

"Yes, daughter o' mine, what do you want?"

"I want to see your face as you tell me what it's like to be back with Luke. Tell me what's in your heart."

"For the first hours it was as if we were being chased by demons determined to not let us find our way home. These demons felt real, Rory, and I was so scared, and so sad. Those demons were the pain I caused you all: Luke, Chris, you. Some part of me felt you would never forgive me."

"After Luke left that day he wanted to elope, my brain was numb. My heart ached with pain and regret, but my brain just couldn't handle it. I wandered through the next months, doing what everyone wanted me to do, constantly living in a fog. I went through the motions of being Christopher's wife, the good daughter, the trusted colleague, but I was never there for anyone, especially me. That was Pod Lorelai."

"The day I told Christopher it was over, I became myself again. A barely-functioning Lorelai, but no longer just the ghost of what someone else wanted me to be. That's when I started climbing out of the darkness. Pod Lorelai went away."

"Lane's shower was the first event I can remember attending, everything before that evening just faded to darkness. I talked to Luke for a few seconds that day, the first time that it felt like we could talk. After that, one moment followed another until the karaoke evening."

"Oh, Mom," Rory said, breaking her silence.

"I wasn't sad, I was hopeful, at least until I stupidly answered Babette's questions the next day in the diner. Then I fell backwards, but Luke and I, we recovered. Slowly. That carried me until your surprise party."

"Mom, my question was about after I left for Iowa. What happened then?"

"Sorry, that's what happens when you chase your demons. They take over and chase you around in circles." Lorelai sighed. "Luke was there, with the right answers: we'd punished ourselves enough, he hadn't forgotten any of the good things, and he forgave me. I forgave him and he forgave me all over again." Lorelai's face darkened as she told these things to Rory, feeling the depths of their sadness, but she also felt the joy of knowing Luke again, of hearing him say, "I just like to see you happy."

"That's when I discovered how much Luke had changed. When previously I'd waiting for him to catch up, I suddenly found myself chasing him, every moment, every decision. He told me what he wanted, and let me make my own choices."

"You asked about my heart? My heart was connected to my brain like the cable box to the TV. My heart overflowed as I remembered everything from the tiniest look he gave you through every moment we'd spent together. It was like watching my life pass before me, except it wasn't my life, it was my love. You, me, Luke, so many years, so happy, and it was there for me again. There was no need to question anything, I just knew. I would fight anyone, anything to keep this, and Luke was there through the whole thing."

"Since that evening, everything has been clear, decisions were so easy to make. Now we're here, I'm perfectly happy, finally marrying Luke."

"Finally having your middle."

"Finally having our middle."

"Aw Mom, I'm so happy for you, but I've got to go. I'll probably be back again soon, so far our schedule is pretty quiet this evening."

"OK, sugar, I'll keep the computer on. Love you!" Lorelai smiled a bittersweet smile. Not having Rory here created a big hole in Lorelai's enjoyment of the wedding, but she knew that she, Rory and Luke had made the decision together, and remembered Rory's words. _"I let you down horribly." _

_"Let me give you a wedding gift. It will never make up for the hurt, or the time you lost, but it can give you the time you need right now. Elope, have a wedding, do what you need to do for your happiness right now. Don't wait for me, don't plan on me, but do keep me informed of every detail. If there's any possibility to be there, I will be there. I love you both too much to let you sacrifice any more for me."_

Lorelai dabbed her eyes and went back to getting ready.

* * *

><p>With a knock on the door, Richard entered Lorelai's dressing room. She had just finished writing a note on a piece of Dragonfly stationery and was sealing it in an envelope. There were three other sealed envelopes lying on the table.<p>

"Hi Dad, has Hope arrived already?" she asked.

"Yes, she and Emily were waylaid by Michel, something about the dinner, I believe. They're discussing it in French, quite amusing. I just came by to say hello and let you know the ladies will be along shortly."

"What are you going to do now?"

"We've taken a couple of rooms for the night, so Emily can have a glass of wine and champagne. I'll be able to get some rest this afternoon, doctor's orders." Richard looked a little tired already.

"Dad, can you do me a favor? Luke was starting to feel a little anxious. Can you stop by and see how he's doing?"

"Certainly, it will be my pleasure. I brought him a gift of whiskey, so it will be a good time to give it to him. I'm not drinking, so I thought I'd start giving away some of my bottles to people who can appreciate them."

Lorelai continued. "Are you up for a little intrigue? I have an idea…"

* * *

><p>The noise of the baseball game crackled in the background as Jess and Luke stood on the balcony drinking beer and watching the wedding preparations. Bits of music came over the loudspeakers, Kirk walked around designing his video shots, Christy scooted from point to point, making sure everything was just as it should be.<p>

"How's the publishing company?" asked Luke.

"Folded. Couldn't make enough sales to keep it going."

"What's next?"

"Keeping my options open. I'm writing, working odd jobs to pay the bills, and looking for the next opportunity. I'm doing some script editing on the side, you know, making sure the story flows and everything works together."

"Seeing anybody?"

"Not really, just the odd date here and there. Luke, tell me something – just last February we talked, and you were flat out depressed. Now you're getting married, and to Lorelai? Why are you putting yourself through this again?"

Luke looked down, searching for the words to explain. He shrugged. "It was a busy couple of months."

"Cut the crap, Luke. All Liz talked about was wormholes and shit like that. Are you crazy? What makes you think this is going to work out?"

Luke's voice became louder as he struggled to contain his emotions. "Because I changed! I looked at my life and it sucked so bad I couldn't stand myself anymore! There was so much baggage hanging around I couldn't carry it anymore. That damn boat was still there, mocking me for the life I hadn't lived, for the chances I gave up, and I was done with it. Sold the boat, bought a new one, and talked to Lorelai again. Every day I had to remind myself to let the past go; to see what was in front of me that day. It's like the Twickham house. Once it was a dream house, now it's a wreck. Let it go."

"I did that every damn day for a couple of months, until I could see myself, my life as I wanted it to be. That's how I've been living ever since."

"One day, Lorelai stood before me. When I looked I could see that she had changed as well, and I promised myself I wouldn't let a second chance pass me by. We got that chance, and here we are today."

A quiet knock on the door took them away from their discussion. Richard Gilmore stood there holding a bottle of whiskey. "That probably wasn't the baseball game I heard through the door. Perhaps a whiskey will help calm things down?"

"Boilermakers?" asked Jess. "That's my kind of drink."

"Good to hear it. You must be Jess? I'm Richard, Lorelai's father. Here's the bottle, set them up. Luke, who's winning the game?"

"No idea, Richard. The game they're playing in the back garden here is more interesting." Luke stood on the balcony again, still burning from the heated discussion with Jess. Telling Jess about those months apart from Lorelai hit him deep in his gut. Jess never cut Lorelai any slack, and Luke hadn't told him details about the breakup. All Jess ever seemed to see was that Lorelai treated Luke badly, and Luke kept going back for more. Maybe it was all Jess ever wanted to see.

While Luke's back was turned, Richard slipped an envelope into Luke's suit pocket. He also pulled Jess aside, gave him another envelope and quietly gave him instructions. Jess nodded as he gave Luke a sidelong glance.

The men continued talking as the staff finished the wedding setup. Jackson joined them after a while, and all four eventually settled back to watch the last of the doubleheader.

* * *

><p>Emily, Hope and Michel went from the kitchen to the back garden and surveyed the decorations.<p>

"Everything is ready, you can see where the bride will start over there, and the groom will be standing on the opposite side." Michel indicated the flow of the wedding and the reception.

"What about the lights? When will they go on?" inquired Emily in an insistent manner.

"Emily, dear, let's allow the team to do their job. We've got better things to do. I can't wait to see Lorelai," coaxed Hope.

Emily turned to her sister and positively glowed as she smiled. "Yes, yes, a great idea. Michel, is there champagne in Lorelai's room yet?"

"Not yet, we didn't dare leave her alone with a whole bottle. Now that you've arrived, I'll have it sent right over. Hope, thank you for sending a few bottles by air. They arrived two days ago and have been resting ever since. Not the best treatment for good champagne, but Lorelai is hardly likely to know the difference." Michel sniffed at the idea of wasting good champagne on Lorelai.

"Michel, you promised me you would use your savoir faire today, otherwise I won't go out with you next week," Hope chided him gently.

Michel replied with savoir faire, "For you, Hope, anything. We are going to have such a good time. I'll show you all the best places to dance." Half an hour with her and he was already infatuated.

* * *

><p>Lorelai and Rory were chatting again when Emily and Hope walked in.<p>

"Rory!" exclaimed Emily. "Look at you – it's almost like you're in the room. We miss you so much."

Hope turned to Lorelai and held out her hands. "Lorelai! You sweet thing! I haven't seen you since you were seven. So beautiful! I am so happy for you, and so happy to be here on your wedding day."

Lorelai was stunned to look at Hope's face. She looked quite similar to Rory, except for the eyes. Hope had exactly the same eyes as Rory, giant plates of blue.

"Rory, let me introduce you to my sister Hope," said Emily, beaming with pride. "She found time to come to Lorelai's wedding, and will be staying with us for a while."

"Grandma, I already met Hope, didn't I tell you?" Rory replied, a slightly puzzled look on her face. "We'd been emailing for a while, and she happened to be in London over Christmas when I visited Logan."

"Emily, don't you remember? You told me about Rory's work on the Yale newspaper and I was browsing their website when I saw that she was the editor, so I contacted her then." Hope replied with a casual air.

"No, I'm surprised neither of you told me about it. Lorelai, did you know what was going on?" Emily was a little irritated.

"No, Mom, I don't remember anything. Maybe I knew, maybe I didn't. What does it matter?" shrugged Lorelai, focused on her makeup.

"Well it matters to me if my granddaughter and my sister are talking to each other!" she harrumphed. "I can't imagine why you didn't tell me."

"Nobody was hiding anything, Em," consoled Hope. "We just chatted about different things, went to a show, did some shopping. Rory, do you remember that little café we found around the corner from Harrod's? With the waiter who tried to speak French? He was so funny!"

"Yes, and when he tried to say your name with a French accent 'Ope! 'Ope! That was so funny!" Rory and Hope began laughing and giggling. Emily's face turned rock-hard and she turned to Lorelai.

"Let me help you with your hair, Lorelai," she muttered.

"Thanks, Mom, Hope's already started. Can you see about the champagne instead? I think we could all use a drink. I for one need some nose-tickling bubbles."

"You're going to need some help with the tiara," Emily answered.

"We talked about nesting the tiara deep in Lorelai's beautiful curls, didn't we, Lorelai? Rory, what do you think? If we just pull these curls up and lay them over the back of the tiara, then tuck this over here, and voilà! The diamonds look like they've been nestled in among the curls, one by one."

"Beautiful, Hope! That looks so much better than the time I wore that tiara. Mom, do you remember the Yale meat market? I wore the same tiara perched high on my head. I looked like a goofy Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's."

"Audrey's style has been worshipped the world over," pouted Emily. "Her beauty is timeless. Nothing goofy about that."

"Mom? The bride's getting thirsty here, do you really want a Bridezilla on your hands?"

"I'm going, I'm going," huffed Emily as she closed the door with a loud click.

* * *

><p>Richard looked at his watch. Quarter to six. He looked first at Luke, who was looking pensively out the window, then over at Jackson and Jess. He nodded at Jess as if to ask, "You know your part?" then announced, "Luke, I'm going to my room for a short rest and to get dressed. Emily and I will see you downstairs a little after 7?<p>

Luke turned, remembered the men in the room and replied, "Of course, Richard, thanks again for the whiskey, it's delicious. If you need anything, just let me know."

"I do have one more little thing for you, Luke. Here's a little something to read while you get ready." Richard handed Luke one of the envelopes prepared by Lorelai. He recognized her handwritten "Luke" on the front.

"From Lorelai? What's this about?" he asked.

"No idea," said the older man. "You'll have to read it. Now, I'll take my leave of you all."

Luke looked at Jess and Jackson, who both had blank looks on their faces. Jackson's came naturally, but Jess hid his knowledge.

Luke took a deep breath. His heart was trying to fly away, it was beating so hard and fast. This could be anything. What a bad time for a surprise like this. He turned the envelope over in his hands a couple of times, then dove in. He pulled the single piece of paper out of the envelope, and faced the balcony before he started reading. If it were bad news, he didn't want the other men to see it in his expression.

The first time through all Luke did was look for the words 'no,' 'can't,' 'stop,' or anything that might destroy his life as he stood in this wallpapered cage. The second time through, he exhaled. The third time through, he actually read Lorelai's words. His 'Lorelai' smile spread across his face and his whole body relaxed.

"Think I'll have another whiskey," he said, taking a seat for his fourth read-through. His smile reached his eyes and the other two men looked relieved.

"You gonna tell us what she said?" asked Jackson.

"Nope," he replied, holding the bottle out to pour for the others. "but this is a good moment for a fifty year old whiskey."

* * *

><p>Michel was at the reception desk when Emily came looking for the champagne.<p>

"Why hasn't the champagne been delivered yet?" she said irritably.

"Because good champagne takes its time. It must be chilled properly and handled carefully, otherwise you might as well be drinking apple cider." Michel found the computerized booking system suddenly fascinating.

"What do you think I am, a nincompoop? Of course I know how a good wine should be treated, especially champagne! My girls are back in the room waiting for you to do your job! Honestly, Hope sent the champagne, must she serve it as well?" Emily was in a snit.

"Hope? Ah, such a delightful person. I'll see what I can do. The champagne should be at her room shortly." Michel looked down his nose at Emily. "Would you please apologize to Hope for the inconvenience?"

Emily's eyes threw daggers at Michel as she stormed back to Lorelai's room. Within five minutes Michel and a server escorted the champagne into the suite.

"Hope, Lorelai, please forgive us, but here is your champagne, along with a few tiny bites from Sookie's kitchen. She says she'll be here shortly to dress. The server brought in a large tray of delicate puffs and crudité along with the wine. Sookie followed close behind.

"Michel, so glad you could come! Please join us in a glass. What do you think of Lorelai's hair?" Hope flashed her Rory-blue eyes at him, winning him over immediately.

"You must have arranged this style, am I correct, Hope?" he gushed. "Lorelai's hair has never looked better." Lorelai beamed at him, but he ignored her to pour Hope's champagne.

Christy appeared just as the ladies were making their second and third toasts, telling Lorelai, "We need to get you dressed for the daylight photos. I want you in the garden and back out again before the guests start arriving. It's just after 6 now, it should take about half an hour."

She turned to the rest of the ladies and said, "We need the mother of the bride and the matron of honor as well. Can you two meet us on the back porch in about 10 minutes?"

Emily left to get dressed, having said hardly a word. Sookie went into the bathroom to change, while Hope stayed behind to help the bride dress.

"OK, step in carefully, we'll get to the shoes later. My goodness, you are so tall, you must have gotten that from Richard. Now this zipper, slowly, carefully, stand up straight, you don't want me to catch that beautiful fabric in the zipper."

"Let me just step on this chair to add a few more flowers to your hair. Perfect. Lorelai, you are enchanting! It is such a privilege to be here for your wedding. I never thought I'd get the chance."

"Hope," Lorelai said, "Why is it we haven't seen more of you? I would have loved for you to know Rory as she grew up."

"So would I, Lorelai, but it just wasn't possible. Please trust me when I say that there was no way I could have reached out before the last few years. Emily wouldn't have allowed it."

"Allowed it? It was none of her business who we get to know. We didn't even have your address when Rory and I went on our European trip, or we would have contacted you. I would have loved to see you and Rory together, you look so much alike. No wonder Mom loves Rory so much."

"Your mother doesn't love Rory because of her similarity to me, probably in spite of me. It doesn't matter anymore anyway. We're here together and I'm not letting either of you out of my life again. God, I loved you as a little girl. You were so independent, so strong, I envied you in so many ways. Water under the bridge. Would you do me a favor?"

"Certainly if I can. What is it?" Lorelai was intrigued by Hope's tiptoeing around whatever issue there was between her and her sister.

"I wonder if you would wear this today, as a little gift from me. It would make me very happy to see you in it." She held up a gossamer bracelet, so delicate and light, looking like something made by fairies.

"Oh! So beautiful! Won't it break? It looks too delicate to wear." Lorelai was immediately in love with the bracelet, which fit perfectly on her wrist and went perfectly with her dress, echoing the patterns in the lace adorning her back.

"No, it's quite sturdy; it's made out of platinum and has survived several generations of brides."

Sookie exited the bathroom, fully dressed and the conversation changed to how wonderful everyone looked. Lorelai hugged Hope quick and hard, whispering, "Thank you!" as she fingered the bracelet again.

There was just time for another round of champagne before Christy came to claim the ladies for the photo session. Hope wandered off to her room, stopping to chat with Michel on the way.

* * *

><p>A server knocked on the groom's door exactly at 6.15. When Luke answered, he was presented with another letter, this time on a silver tray.<p>

No waiting, no angst this time, he tore the envelope open and read it hungrily. Lorelai's words were keeping him sane these last two hours. The first letter of each note had been drawn large and was decorated with the silly frills only Lorelai could think of. He ran his finger along the decoration, as if he could somehow connect with her that way.

Jess, who was the only other person left in the room, commented, "You do have it bad." Luke couldn't detect any sarcasm or animosity toward Lorelai in Jess' voice.

"Just wait," Luke said, "you'll see one day. No, actually I hope you never are so stupid that you let your love walk away from you. No wonderful moments now can ever replace the time lost." Luke put the letter back in the envelope and put both letters on the table.

"Let's drink a beer to lessons learned, then." Jess lifted his beer in salute. He hoped Luke would understand this form of apology.

The server, who had been standing quietly near the balcony, spoke up as Luke came near.

"Sorry, sir, you aren't allowed on the balcony at this time. The ladies are being photographed as we speak. They'll finish in a few minutes and you can go out again."

Luke looked out the window even though he knew he shouldn't, and knew he didn't really want to. As a man familiar with self-discipline, he knew that Lorelai would look even more amazing than usual, and that it would be worth the wait. Still he couldn't resist at least trying to take a peek.

Jess pulled him away, saying, "I'll let you know when the coast is clear." He walked out to the balcony and began describing what he saw. Intent on friendly torture, he waxed poetic, not sparing any words that might tweak Luke's curiosity.

Frustrated and grinning at the same time, Luke Frisbee-tossed a pillow hard at Jess with his usual perfect aim. Jess ducked, however, and the pillow flew over the balcony railing and landed on the grass, right at Lorelai's feet. She looked up and saw Jess laughing at her.

"Jess! You almost ruined my hair!"

"Wasn't me, Auntie Lorelai!" he said, "It was Luke!"

"Luke! Stop that! If my hair gets ruined, we have to start getting ready all over again!"

Luke quickly grabbed some of the Dragonfly hotel stationery that he swore no one ever used and furiously scribbled a note to Lorelai. He balled it up and tossed it to Jess, who immediately dropped it at Lorelai's feet. Christy picked it up and handed it to the bride, saving her the danger of bending over so far on those high heels.

Smoothing the paper out, Lorelai peered at the hastily scribbled words. She faced the balcony, and in a most unladylike manner, shouted "Yes!" then said nothing more. Christy smiled as she dragged Lorelai off to the next location. Jess waved goodbye to his future aunt.

Emily, Hope and Sookie were finishing the porch photos while Lorelai moved to the chuppah. Emily was in a snit again. She didn't object when Lorelai added Hope to the photo session, but this wedding, like Rory's coming out party, was not the way it was supposed to be. Nothing was as it was supposed to be.

Lorelai, laughing at the lame jokes from the photographer, ran over and grabbed Emily's hand.

"Mother and daughter photos, now, Mom. Can we perform as well as we did at the Booster Club fashion show?"

Emily perked up, happy to leave Hope back up on the porch. Just mother and daughter. She gave the camera her best moves, suppressing the earlier hurt feelings.

As the mother and daughter were photographed walking up and down the aisle, Mia came onto the porch. She and Howard had driven up to Connecticut just for the wedding. She was both surprised and pleased to see Lorelai having fun with her mother. Sookie came over and gave Mia a hug.

"Mia, so glad you're here. Lorelai will be delighted to see you. Me, too." Sookie followed Mia's eyes to Lorelai and her mother. "They've come a long way, those two," Sookie added.

"Lorelai and Luke came a long way as well, so I've heard." Mia's informants had kept her up to date.

"Mia, you wouldn't have believed how painful it was for everyone. Not just them, but everyone who loved them and wanted to help."

"Neither of them listened to the advice, did they?" Mia asked.

"You got that right, Mia. It was like watching my babies learn to walk. They kept falling down, over and over, until one day they figured it out. I think Luke and Lorelai finally figured it out, too." Tears trickled down Sookie's cheeks.

Mia hugged her. "There's nothing we could have done. Everyone grows at their own pace. At least we're here now to witness their success, Sookie, don't take it so hard."

Lorelai, Christy and Emily came up to the porch. It was time to make the last adjustments to makeup and outfits, just half an hour to the wedding.

Lorelai greeted Mia with a hug and a kiss, her happiness overflowing onto everyone. Emily's happiness from the photo shoot evaporated as she saw the love Lorelai still had for Mia. Hope, seeing Emily's mood change, took her arm, saying, "Let's go get Richard ready, so we're nice and early for the ceremony."

* * *

><p>Jess almost missed his moment as he watched the women playing on the grass. When he realized it was 6.45, he went back into the room, pulled the third envelope out and silently handed it to Luke.<p>

Luke looked at him quizzically, asking, "How long have you had this?"

"Just long enough, Luke. Enjoy it."

Reading the letter, a wave of desire attacked him. He ached as much as she did, and all because of a few words written on paper. The waiting was killing him. He thought of last night, touching her, running his hand up her thigh. Bad idea to think about that now. Instead, he pulled his letters out of his pocket and looked at them. Running a quick calculation, he thought, they're coming every half hour. There ought to be another one right about 7.15. Who would have the letter this time, he wondered.

Abruptly he stood up and grabbed the remote. "Please say there's baseball on somewhere. God. This is agonizing. How long until you give me the next letter?"

"I don't have any more letters, sorry," Jess laughed.

Luke gave him a dirty look. "Go change your damn clothes. I want to get out of this room as soon as my jailers will let me." Luke grumbled.

* * *

><p>Back in Room 12, everyone was finally ready. They posed for one last group picture, Lorelai standing tall in the center, flanked by her friends and relatives, drinking champagne. First one person, then another left, until it was just Sookie, Lorelai and Emily.<p>

Emily left first, to join Richard in their place of honor on the bride's side. Before she left, though, Lorelai stopped her.

"Mom, I know this isn't the wedding you wanted for me, but can you trust that it is the wedding I wanted for myself?"

"Yes," said Emily, choking back a tear. "Thank you for sharing it with me."

"Not just sharing, Mom. You made a lot of it possible. Thank you for that."

"Lorelai, I'm sorry for the things I did earlier, w… with Christopher and treating Luke badly."

"Mom, one thing I've learned is to let go of the past, and that's all gone, do you hear me? We are here and we're doing this now, and I need your support, especially since Rory isn't here."

Emily hugged her daughter a long time, then composed herself, like a Gilmore does. "I'll see you walking down the aisle."

Lorelai went back to the mirror and checked everything out completely one last time. "Does everything look OK from the back, Sookie?"

"Just a little bit here to straighten out, and tug that shoulder seam a bit. Yep, looks perfect."

"Bouquets?" "Check."

"Christy?" "No! We have to wait for Christy! She's got to tell us when it's OK to start."

"Do you mean to say, I'm early for my own wedding? I am really good."

"What now?" "We wait for Christy."

* * *

><p>At ten past seven, Michel and Christy came to Luke's room to tell him to go out to the chuppah. Luke thankfully escaped the room, swearing never to go back to that particular room. Christy patted him on the shoulder, reminding him that he and Lorelai would be spending their first night in Room 12, the private suite away from the inn's main building.<p>

"That I can handle," Luke said, "at least I'll have Lorelai with me."

Reverend Skinner and Rabbi Barans were waiting for Luke and Jess. They shook hands and Michel showed them where to stand.

At precisely 7.15 Archie leaned over to Luke and said, "Luke, look in your left jacket pocket."

Surprised that he'd forgotten to expect another letter, Luke put his hand in his pocket and pulled out another envelope from Lorelai. He'd had the letter with him all the time; it was just like Lorelai to surprise him like that. Luke looked at all three men and asked, "Were you all in on this?" They smiled mischievously, and said nothing.

This last note gave him goose bumps. Exciting, tingly, happy goose bumps. The other envelopes he had put into his jacket's inside pocket. He pulled them out and followed her instructions, even though he knew the answer already, but he enjoyed doing it all the same.

Jess had to break him out of his reverie by nudging Luke with his elbow. "Look, there's Sookie."

Luke hurriedly put the letters back in his pocket and waited for the music to begin.


	12. Luke's and Lorelai's Wedding

**AN:** I thought I'd put both the wedding and the reception in the same chapter, but it came out this way instead. Emily has a lot on her mind.

* * *

><p><strong>Luke<strong>

Gilbert looked good. What was he now, maybe six years old? In fact, the whole chuppah had aged nicely. The chuppah had a translucent white batiste cover, decorated with flowers and vines. Luke reached out and touched the posts, calmed by stability of the carved wood.

This is taking too damn long, and now it sounds like a thunderstorm is starting. At least the crowd has gotten quiet. Weird, though, how their mouths are still moving. Wonder why they aren't saying anything?

Oh, crap, that roaring in my ears is not a thunderstorm, it's my heartbeat. I can barely breathe. Why doesn't Sookie move? Did something happen to Lorelai? Did she bolt?

The only thing I have to do for the next fifteen minutes is stand here. Why does that seem so impossible? He looked over at Jess, who stood there, implacable. Luke tried to say something, but no words came out. Jess reached out and steadied him. He could see Jess' lips move, but he couldn't hear anything over the sound of his own heartbeat.

Jess poked him this time. Hard. He nodded his head towards the doorway. Luke turned back to face the room, but suddenly had tunnel vision. He scanned the audience like he had a periscope, seeing just one person after another. Richard. Emily. Maisy. Mia. Jackson. Sookie.

That was weird; it really was like looking through a periscope. Everyone to the right and left was out of focus; he couldn't even tell who they were. Like a pirate looking through a spyglass. Pirate? I hate pirates, he thought.

Wait. Sookie was moving. That meant…

Lorelai.

She stood at the opposite end of the aisle, waiting for her cue. Or was she going to bolt, because she'd changed her mind? That thought shook him to the core. What if she left? Arrgh. That would be horrible. "Arrgh?" Did I just say that? That's what pirates say. I hate pirates.

Lorelai.

He smiled involuntarily. That dress is beautiful, but how can she walk in it? Maybe that's why she's going to bolt, she can't move in the dress. Get a grip on yourself, Danes, she's not going to bolt. That dress has her hobbled. Good choice of dress, she can't change her mind.

His periscope vision scanned its way from the floor, over her dress, the flowers, to Lorelai's face. She was looking right at him. When her eyes met his, her whole expression changed.

She looks happy. Standing here in front of hundreds of people, I'm a wreck, but she just looks gloriously happy. Happy to see me. Happy to marry me.

The roaring in his ears grew quiet as her look reassured him that she was there. Way in the background he could hear music, then Lorelai started to move towards him.

His tunnel vision dissipated as he watched her walk down the aisle. Funny, that dress didn't hobble her at all, it was kind of floaty, like she was walking on a cloud, that fabric around her feet rising and falling with each step. His heartbeat came back down to a nervous normal.

He was mostly back to 'normal Luke' when she stopped in front of the chuppah. Without missing a beat, he stepped out of the chuppah and took her hand, escorting her under the shelter he had built for her, out of love that he had never expected to be returned.

The words of the ceremony flew out of his head as fast as they entered it, but Lorelai had an energy, a confidence that he'd never seen before. It was reassuring and sexy and powerful all at one time. He felt better just standing near her.

His hands shook as he placed the ring on her finger, and they shook again when she placed her ring on his, but each time she took his hands in hers and his nervousness dissipated.

His happiness grew with each moment she looked at him during the ceremony. At the pronouncement of them as husband and wife, an urge grew from deep within him.

Even though he was instructed by Reverend Skinner to kiss her, nothing would have been able to stop him from kissing his wife.

He touched her chin gently with his right hand, not that she needed guidance, but more that he needed to feel her physical presence, verifying for the nth time today that he wasn't dreaming. He looked at her face, then noticed her hair, dotted with flowers reminiscent of her Renaissance wedding outfit. The tiara sparkled in the dimming light, still not brighter than her eyes as she looked expectantly at him. She raised her right hand to touch his cheek, that flimsy sparkly bracelet sliding an inch down her arm.

His lips touched hers gently, then slid ever so slightly across her mouth, finding exactly the perfect fit. Lorelai deepened it by wrapping her arms wound his neck and pulling him closer, her bouquet dangling behind his head. He pulled her even closer, his hands around her waist. The urge took Luke completely over as he poured his love into his kiss. An infinitely short break allowed Lorelai to gasp for air as she angled her head the other way, giving him her all as well.

Finally, although it was mere seconds, they rested, foreheads touching, his eyes closed. "I love you," he said. As he opened his eyes again, she was glowing with happiness. "Luke Danes, I love you too." They shared one more fleeting sweet kiss before they turned to the guests, announced by Rabbi Barans as Mr. and Mrs. Danes, whereupon the guests broke into applause.

* * *

><p><strong>Emily<strong>

"This is not the way it was supposed to be," said Emily under her breath.

"What did you say, Emily?" asked Richard, sitting next to her.

"Nothing, Richard, you just take it easy," she said. Talking about her troubles would only make him upset, she thought, and with his delicate health, the last thing she wanted to do was stress him.

"What did you think of Lorelai's dress?" she asked, changing the direction of the conversation.

"I've never seen her more beautiful. You did a good job, helping her to find the right dress and get the wedding ready. I've never been more proud of you, Emily," he said, squeezing her hand.

"Thank you, Richard, I'm so glad to finally marry the girl off. It was a long time coming." Emily was half-joking, and she could see that Richard got the joke by his subtle 'humph' and his sweet smile for her.

This is not the way it was supposed to be, she repeated, to herself this time. Lorelai should have married after she graduated Yale, Richard wouldn't have been sick, it would have been perfect.

He would have walked her down the aisle. She would have married at the Rose Room, with a full orchestra and a thousand guests. It would have been Emily's crowning achievement after decades of business soirees and DAR luncheons. She would have had twelve bridesmaids, which would have been right and proper.

"Emily, did you hear about Lorelai's school friend Mitzi getting married again?" Hope interjected. "She married Anne Franklin's second son by her third husband."

"Yes, Hope, I did hear about it from Bitty. It was a beautiful wedding, she said. The Rose Room was done up perfectly. Her gown was de la Renta, and she wore the diamonds."

"You mean 'The Diamonds' that Anne got after her first divorce?" queried Hope. "Wow."

Hope was distracted by Michel, sitting next to her, and turned to chat with him.

What is it with marriage nowadays, thought Emily. Divorces just seem so normal. Every one of Lorelai's Hartford friends had at least one divorce under their belts, and they weren't even forty yet. Not even Lorelai and Luke were immune. He was divorced once, and Lorelai had a ridiculous sham of a marriage with Christopher. How neither of them bothered to research the marriage laws in France was beyond her. At least Emily had tried to correct it once they returned to the US, but Lorelai, as usual, was determined to have her own way, refusing to repeat their vows.

Lorelai never wanted Christopher anyway, she recalled. He was such a weak fool; all he ever did was make a mess of things. He had Straub's propensity to ruin things for others, plus Francine's weakness, which meant he would never have been a good match for Lorelai. Lorelai fantasied sometimes that she wanted Christopher, but the Christopher she wanted had never existed.

Lorelai wasn't the way she was supposed to be either. Every skill she used to run her inn should have been learned at Yale, and used for the DAR and the many foundations that could have used her intelligence and energy. She could have changed the world. Instead she plows her talent into that one-horse town, simply because she loves it and calls it home.

Rory's not even here. That's not how it was supposed to be; her granddaughter should be here for her mother's marriage. It wasn't right, even when Rory explained to her why she insisted Lorelai and Luke do what they needed for themselves. 'Rory wants Lorelai's future with Luke to start as soon as possible.' 'Rory felt so bad about dropping out of Yale, stealing the boat, and delaying her mother's wedding because of her bad behavior.' I don't get it. That business when Rory talked to us on the computer today before the wedding helped, but it still wasn't the same as being here.

"Emily, there are Luke and Jess," Richard said. "Their chuppah is beautiful, isn't it? Hard to imagine Luke made that for her, he must have loved her very much, even back then. I still think it's amazing that they have found their way back together again."

Silent, Emily looked at Luke. She never hated him, she thought, she just never considered him to be a good match for her daughter. If he'd been born in Hartford and had a few million to his name, it would have been fine, but he wasn't and he doesn't.

Still, he'd been in love with Lorelai for more than seven years. Those first years Lorelai couldn't even face the fact that she had feelings for him. She'd heard about Lorelai's boyfriends over the years, but Lorelai never showed anything close to the amount of love for any of them that she shows for Luke, not even that teacher she almost married. Hmm. She jilted the teacher at about the same time Luke made her the chuppah, an odd coincidence.

Lorelai's and Luke's relationship wasn't the way it was supposed to be. They had so much sadness in the past few years. If only she had encouraged Lorelai to follow up on those feelings she commented on at Rory's 16th birthday, it might have been different. Maybe they would have married and divorced like all of Lorelai's school friends have done. Maybe they would have made it, and she'd have been surrounded by grandkids now.

Look at him now, though, he's still in love with her after all the pain and frustration. Emily thought back a few days, when Lorelai had her wedding dress on for the first time.

_"He's the only man I've ever truly loved; I ever truly wanted to spend the rest of my life with. And it's happening, it's finally happening." Lorelai whispered the words._

She really does love him. Emily sighed.

"Tired, dear?" Richard inquired, rubbing her shoulder gently.

"No, I'm just thinking how excited Luke looks, and how happy both of them were a few days ago at our house. They really do love each other."

"Like we do, Emily, like we love each other." Richard pulled her over for a hug.

"Nothing is the way it was supposed to be, the way I'd planned all those years ago when Lorelai was just a baby. Lorelai is so different from what I expected, so strong, so determined. Luke matches her and balances her in those areas."

Emily continued. "Even though today nothing is as I expected it to be, it's beyond my wildest dreams to see her marrying someone who is fully and completely her equal. I truly feel happy for them."

"Well, don't start crying yet, Emily, the wedding is just starting. Look at Luke's eyes. Can you see how he looks at her? Did you see him flash that smile? That means she's here, ready to start. Let's stand up and watch our daughter get married."

* * *

><p><strong>Lorelai<strong>

Triumphantly, Lorelai moved at the end of the aisle, holding her bouquet and watching Sookie make her way down the aisle. Unobserved, Christy made the last few adjustments to the back of her dress.

Lorelai looked at Luke, but somehow felt everything around them – the people, the decorations, the music, everything. This was a celebration of joy, of love, of happiness. Lorelai was in a mood to party.

She could have danced down the aisle, but she didn't. On command from Christy, she did her perfect little kick-step that raised the chiffon fabric, causing it to float around her legs like a cloud.

She could have run down the aisle, but she didn't. Celebrations were meant to be enjoyed, savored.

Those eyes, god she loved his eyes. She felt her whole body flush when he smiled. She looked forward to this evening, the reception, the wedding night. She fought the urge to run to him again.

Suddenly she was there. He stepped out of the chuppah and took her hand. She felt the electricity pass between them as they walked under the chuppah together. Finally. Here with Luke, as she was supposed to be.

There was no uncertainty, no doubt, no fears. Her whole body was alive with an energy that thrilled her. Each word of the ceremony was burned in her memory, each look he gave her, each time he touched her. There was love in his eyes as he placed his ring on her finger, even when his fingers shook. He watched transfixed as she placed her ring on his finger, holding his hand steady when it shook as well. He looked up at her and stopped shaking. It was done. She held both of his hands in hers and he had no more nerves.

He looked intently at her before the kiss, sending waves of desire through her body. How could he do that with just his eyes? Amazing. Then the kiss. His touch, the softness of his lips, followed by an outpouring of love and passion, completely from his heart. She held onto his neck for support as her knees turned to jelly, then returned his kiss, regaining strength as she let her love flow into him.

Mr. and Mrs. Danes. It was done. It was real. Overwhelmed by the words, she reached for him again, kissing and hugging him, unable to stop the joyous laughter pouring out of her. Arm in arm they stepped out of the chuppah, going first to her parents for hugs, kisses and congratulations, then making their way down the aisle to start the party.


	13. Wedding Pictures

The Only Wedding Picture Needed

At the end of the aisle, Luke took Lorelai's hand and pulled her insistently towards the back porch of the Dragonfly. Flinging the door open, he dragged her along, nearly running Christy over as she headed back outside to check on progress of the wedding. "Sorry!" called Lorelai behind her as they hurried away.

"Where can we be alone?" Luke growled, moving closer to the front door. If necessary, he'd put her in the truck and go far away from here. Whatever it took.

"My office," she choked, trying to keep up with him while navigating in her 3 inch heels and grabbing her dress to keep it from tangling between her legs and dragging them both to the floor.

He made a sharp right before the reception desk and headed into her office, slamming and locking the door after them.

"Luke," she started, but he stopped her with a decimating kiss, pushing her up against the door, his arms braced against the door frame while his lips attacked her mouth again and again.

He crushed his body against hers while his hands moved to her neck, his fingers slithering into the hair on the back of her neck, diving ever deeper into her curls.

His tongue dove into her mouth, demanding a response from her, which she gave as if a flare had been shot off at the center of her being. She grabbed his ass, pulling him closer, squeezing his cheeks, urging him on.

Faintly remembering her role as bride, she whispered, "Photographer," before she succumbed to his kisses and the urgency of his body again. "Pictures," she squeaked out.

"I don't care about any virginal wedding pictures to hang on a damn wall somewhere," he rasped. "When I'm 90 years old, lying in a nursing home, remembering what it was like to love Lorelai Gilmore, I don't want a posed picture with perfect lipstick and sparkly hair." He stopped, breathing like he'd run a marathon, and looked at her, passion and lust burning in his eyes.

"I want this picture – my Lorelai, looking as if she'd been kissed to within an inch of her life. Her eyes dark with desire, looking at me the way you're looking now, eyes half-closed, your hands reaching for me, wanting me, loving me, husband and wife, permanently, forever."

Every fiber of her being wanted this man right now, right here. "More," she said, bracing her arms against the door, waiting for what would come next. Turning her head to the right, she bared her throat for him, silently imploring him for more.

Strewing fiery kisses along her neck, Luke slid his arms behind her back and moved her to the sofa. She lay down, her head pillowed on the upholstered armrest, her back cushioned by accent pillows. She grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him to her, mussing his hair as she pulled him to her, biting and tugging on his lip until he moaned with desire.

"God, I'm so glad I didn't wear a veil," Lorelai said, knowing it would have been shredded by now. She pulled him closer to her, whispering, "Husband, I want you. Now."

He pressed hard against her, looking for access to her body. Her bodice imprisoned her breasts; he searched in vain for a quick access. He growled in frustration.

"Luke, one request," she panted, "Don't tear the dress."

He laughed throatily and planted kisses over her nipples, feeling the response through the layers of fabric, hearing her moan with pleasure. He grimaced as he realized he could get no closer, would not be able to elicit those mind-numbing moans and see the arch of her back as he sucked her nipples until she begged for relief.

Moving downward, he found he could breach the fortress on her lower body by brushing aside the chiffon panels, leaving only the underskirt, which he lifted up to her hips. The chiffon panels, which had floated about her legs as she walked down the aisle toward him, were now just gossamer barriers to the prize he sought. Finally moved aside, he found white satin tap pants, heavily embellished with soft lace. He ran his hands down from her hips to her mound as she clenched her butt and jerked up towards Luke's hands.

"Lorelai, those letters you sent. Each one made me burn for you. I loved the connection to you, but the waiting was devastating. All I could think of was the moment when I could have you again, make love to my wife."

He pressed his lips to her panties, the lace spilling down onto her thighs. Wet and ready. So delicious, so hot. Lorelai moaned as he pulled the panties down and off her legs, watching the lace slide over the pointy heels of the shoes she hadn't removed.

His need for her was so strong that it hurt. He pressed his mouth to her folds again, tantalizing her clit with his tongue, followed by multiple thrusts of his tongue into her.

"Luke, now, now, I need you in me now. Hurry, I can't wait." Lorelai squeezed her knees closer, trying to move things along even faster.

Swirling his tongue once more against her clit, he sat up, took one of the sofa's accent pillows and slid it under her hips, raising her entrance to an angle better suited to his knees as they were positioned between her legs. He stripped his jacket off and tossed it aside wildly. He dropped his pants and his boxers, entering her with one swift thrust, both of them groaning at the same time as they connected completely.

He paused, giving her time to adjust to his throbbing cock. She exhaled haltingly, enjoying the feeling of fullness. She watched him watch her adjust, reaching his thumb down to her clit, circling it gently until it became every bit as hard as his own shaft. Her mouth formed a circle as she panted softly.

Slowly he pulled out, almost to the tip, then slid back in, fast at first, then slowing to make sure he made contact with her uppermost wall. Hitting just the right spot at the right angle within a few strokes, she began her climb to the top. As he sped up, he released all self-control and thrust madly into her. She tumbled over the edge, taking him with her as they strained to stay as quiet as possible. He jerked forward as he spilled into her, his eyes closing as he released all the tension of the day.

Spent but still connected to her, his cock still twitching inside her, he reached for her left hand, bringing it to his mouth and kissing first her palm, then the ring he'd placed there only minutes before. "My wife, my Lorelai." His face, damp from the exertion, showed a triumphant expression similar to Lorelai's during her march down the aisle.

She reached over her head to the end table next to the sofa, feeling around for a box of tissues. She pulled a few out to wipe her brow and neck, handing the box to Luke. He carefully cleaned the area as they separated, taking care not to dampen the dress or his pants. Kissing the inside of each knee, he ran his hands down her stocking-clad thighs before standing and helping his wife to her feet. The pillow he slid under the desk for her to retrieve some other time.

They stood together a moment, kissing, as their heartbeats drifted back to normal. Luke rolled her leather desk chair around to the side of the desk and seated himself, pulling her onto his lap. He nuzzled her shoulder, enjoying the feel of the fabric over her soft skin, then smiled to himself.

"I understand weddings now," he said, holding her waist as she smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress. She raised her eyebrows as she got up long enough to go to her desk drawer and pull out a small toiletries kit and a bottle of water, then returned to his lap. She opened the bottle and handed it to him. He drank deeply, finishing the half-liter rapidly.

"You understand weddings?" Lorelai smiled, combing his hair back in place. Humoring him, she added, "Tell me about weddings."

"It's a fertility rite, bent on preserving the species. The family imprisons the groom and tortures him for a day or more under the pretext that his bride 'must be made ready' for him, as if in modern times, she hasn't already 'been ready' for him over and over again before the wedding. Then, once he's reached the breaking point, they're allowed to be together again. His need for release is so strong the family is practically assured of procreation."

Continuing, he added, "There are ceremonies of separation, like the bachelor party, where he is taunted with images of other women, who he will never experience again in his life."

"Then comes the wedding day. The groom is locked away, told not to look, not to touch. His precious bride is bathed, decorated, primped, all to make a beautiful image that lasts one moment."

"She's decorated with precious jewels," he continued, fingering her bracelet. He looked at her tiara. "A crown is placed on her head. Her skin is bathed in scented oils," kissing her wrist and smelling her lingering perfume. "Her eyes are darkened with black markings, enhancing her desirability." He touched his thumb to the corner of her eye.

"Finally, the groom is led to the altar, where he spends a small eternity watching for his bride, while those gathered take their measure of him. He pines for her in the public square."

"Finally she appears, unworldly, beautiful, and untouchable. She's so far away I can't reach her." His rant slipped from the generic to the personal, betraying his longing, what he suffered while waiting for her today.

"Lorelai," he said, abandoning his rant, "I can't believe how hard it was to be away from you for just seven hours." He buried his face in her hair. "I'm completely lost without you. We're going to go broke, because I don't want to go to the diner while you are someplace else. I'll have to give it up and become a bellman at the Dragonfly, just to be near you 24/7."

"We'll be fine," she reassured him, caressing the sensitive skin behind his ears, sending shivers down his spine. "You'll get your diner mojo back. We'll have some ridiculous argument and you'll need to go to the diner so you don't kill me. Of course, I'll follow you there, because of the coffee and my hot, hot husband. Don't tell him I'm following you around, OK?"

She re-tied his tie and smoothed his shirt as she tucked it back into his pants. He closed the zipper, buttoned and belted his pants himself. She led him over to the full-length antique mirror in the corner and he made the final adjustments. She held his coat for him, smoothing it over his shoulders as he buttoned it.

"Beautiful," she said, kissing him on the back of his neck, before turning to her own hair and makeup. A few minutes was all it took to get her back into a photographer-ready state. She looked a little different, a little disheveled, but was still very much a fresh happy bride.

"Aw, your dress is wrinkled," Luke said, "Won't that spoil the pictures?"

"Not since the invention of Photoshop. The photographer can eliminate tiny flaws like these. Our pictures will make Emily proud. And you, my friend, will have the memory of what happened just before the photos were taken."

His eyes crinkled as he made a mental picture of the past quarter hour. "No, now you do have to wait," she cautioned as he reached for her again. "My hair can't handle another round."

"How long have we been gone?" he asked.

"Long enough to do what we needed to do, but not so long that people will talk."

"Do Christy and Michel know?" She nodded and he looked embarrassed, bumping his forehead against her arm.

"Don't worry, they'll be tactful. Wedding organizers and photographers are used to these 'delays' after the ceremony, if you know what I mean. We see this pretty often with our weddings here. You and I are by no means the first."

She turned him so they could see themselves in the mirror. "The perfect couple." He reached for her again, but she silently pushed him toward the door.

With the practiced poise of an experienced wedding planner, Christy stood watch at the back door of the inn, discreetly encouraging guests to stay out on the lawn. The photographer chatted with her about upcoming gigs as he smoked a cigarette a little further away on the porch.

Turning her head slightly, Christy saw Luke and Lorelai leaving the office. She nodded to the photographer, who went inside with her to meet them.

"The pictures of the bride and groom only will be taken on the front porch and the main rooms off the lobby," she instructed. "We can move to the back porch when we're making the group photos."

Neither Luke nor Lorelai were particularly interested in prolonging this part of the wedding, so Christy kept the number of shots to a minimum. Since the bride's shots before the wedding were extensive, they were able to limit the number of group photos as well.

"I think my favorite shot is of you with Jess and Jackson. Such tall, handsome men," Lorelai said as they headed down the steps to the reception area. "Let's go party!"


	14. The Mother In Law

The Mother-In-Law

"Emily, I'll be fine. I've got it handled," Richard said kindly. "It's just a few minutes to create memories that will last a lifetime."

It didn't matter what Richard said, Emily was as worried and nervous as Richard was proud. He was going to dance with his daughter at her wedding.

_This wasn't the way it was supposed to be_, Emily thought, _he should have been able to dance the night away with Lorelai, Rory, Hope and me. Yet here he was, barely moving on the dance floor with Lorelai. At least it was a slow waltz. That won't overtax his body. _There was no avoiding it this time, she couldn't demand that she go first, she couldn't manage this transition in her husband's life. _In her life._

Emily continued watching as she waltzed, never once looking at her partner, always watching Richard. Emily could waltz in her sleep. She could also foxtrot, quickstep and cha-cha with the best of them. Fifty years of practice, balls, cotillions, parties and weddings made her an excellent partner. She knew every appropriate expression to use when dancing with a partner she'd never met. She also knew exactly how to deliver a polite yet incisive comment to pierce her partner's ego without missing a beat. At this moment, though, she was completely ignoring her partner, the rudest of all actions to take while on the dance floor.

Her dance partner understood completely, and was not offended. Instead, he reached out to comfort her as they danced circles around Richard and Lorelai. Luke had seen the signs as early as Emily had, furthermore he benefited from not being in denial about Richard's health. They danced the next round in silence, neither knowing how to tell the other about the sad wisdom they actually shared.

"Emily," he said in the gentlest, kindest voice he possessed, "We've got it taken care of. Lorelai arranged for the waltz to end quickly, and Hope will come up and escort Richard back to their seats. She'll watch him like a hawk, and if there's the slightest problem, she'll get him out of here to a place he can rest."

Still distracted, Emily slowly came out of her fog of worry, returning almost gratefully to her sense of duty in social situations. "Luke, I apologize, I'm a terrible partner. Please forgive me." Her distraction was replaced by fatigue. She was tired of fighting, tired of wishing Richard was healthier, tired of being strong all the time.

"Nothing to forgive, Emily, we're all taking care of this together. Look, Lorelai is twirling under Richard's arm. Look at him smiling."

"She used to do that when she was just five years old. We had parties with dancing, and she always got her dance in with Daddy before she went to bed." This surprised Luke, who had never heard Lorelai speak of times like that. He felt a small ache in his heart, hoping that Lorelai would soon be able to open up about the good times as well as she spoke of the bad times with her family.

He turned Emily on the floor so she had maximum opportunity to watch Richard and Lorelai. Her daughter made that one last twirl, stepped three steps away from her father, and the two of them took their bows to delighted applause. Before Emily had rotated her head again, Hope was leading Richard off the floor. He looked tired, but delighted.

Emily turned to her partner with the happy smile that every partner deserves when he guides his partner smoothly on the dance floor. "Thank you, Luke, it meant a lot to me to see that waltz. You've been very kind to take care of an old bird like me. Why don't you dance with Lorelai again?" She wouldn't object to leaving the dance floor and being with her own husband either.

"Emily, I told you we have it taken care of. Anyway, Lorelai just danced with me, and I'm sure she's tired of me stepping on her feet all the time," he smiled, recalling their first dance as husband and wife.

Luke and Lorelai had danced to the same song that they fell in love to, Reflecting Light. It was every bit as magical today as it was at Liz' wedding, except this time Luke felt free enough to let a tear or two drop from his eye as the happiness inside him couldn't be held back any longer. He'd never tell his mother-in-law that, though. At no time, though, did he step on her feet.

Even though the father of the bride was done dancing for the evening, it didn't mean that the mother of the bride was done, and neither was Lorelai. She and Luke had schemed to give Emily a chance to relax and dance some of her cares away, but they knew Emily wouldn't dance if Lorelai didn't have a partner. It simply wasn't done at proper weddings. Per plan, Lorelai walked back up to the head table and stopped next to Jess.

"You have to dance if I ask, and I'm asking. Will the best man please dance with the bride?"

"No."

"Luke said you have a choice. You can dance with me, or you can dance with Emily." They glanced over at her husband, whose steely gaze left Jess in no doubt of his meaning. Jess sighed and reluctantly followed Lorelai to the dance floor. She grabbed his hand and walked him to the center of the floor, and with a flourish, indicated to the crowd that he was her next partner, which brought a smattering of applause from the crowd. It was still hard for some Stars Hollow townies to accept Jess in the same unconditional way that his uncle did.

"You do know I can't dance, right?" he asked.

"We'll be fine. I won't embarrass you, it's my wedding day." She looked at him affectionately. "It's your choice, Jess – me or Emily. That's what they call free will," she teased.

"More like the lesser of two evils," he complained as he gave in.

True to her word, she guided him around the floor in such a way that even Jess began to think he might be able to dance a little. With enough practice. In the distant future. Maybe in a dark room. With nobody watching. He looked at her, mostly to figure out which direction she was going with the next step, when he noticed that her eyes were moist. Looking in the same direction, he saw that she was watching her father's retreating back. She squeezed her eyes closed for just a second, took a breath, then smiled back at Jess.

"So happy you could cry?" he joked, trying to give her an opening to talk if she wanted it. He found it hard to imagine that she would open up to him except when it was about Luke, but what the heck, it's the bride's day, even Jess could stretch himself a little to make the bride happy.

"C'mon, Jess, you've been with a Gilmore Girl, you know we can be happy and sad at the same time. Wait until you see me both angry and happy at once. Luke never understands that mood, but he's funny when he tries."

The music had changed from the waltz to Ella Fitzgerald's "Just One of Those Things," planned to give Emily a bit of a jolt. While Lorelai and Jess shuffled gently in small circles, Luke and Emily took the opportunity to do a brisk foxtrot.

Her husband having been safely escorted to his room, Emily was breathing easier. Hope's smile at her when she re-entered the room assured Emily that Richard was OK.

Luke, having matched Emily's precise rhythm of the foxtrot, looked down and her and asked, "What do you think? Shall we kick it up a notch?"

"You can quickstep, Luke?" Emily and Richard hadn't quickstepped in several years, and most of the able men in their acquaintance were quickly snatched up by more predatory women than Emily.

She smiled again with perfect cordiality, and said, "Yes. Whenever you're ready."

Luke wasted no time moving her into the quickstep, which carried them around the floor accompanied by catcalls from some of the more brazen in the audience, namely Babette and Patty. He gave them a mischievous wink as he passed them, but refocused on his feet so he wouldn't fall in a heap and embarrass himself.

When this song came to an end, there was a brief pause, welcomed most by the men on the floor. Jess was happy to finally escape his aunt's clutches, and Luke was simply grateful that he'd survived the mother-in-law dance.

Emily thanked Luke, adding, "You have an open invitation to all my parties. The DAR will love to dance with you any time."

He chuckled, joking, "I'll take that as a threat, Emily. Thank you for adjusting to my clumsy style." A few more words of dancing modesty from both of them and he settled Emily back at her table.

Emily sat at the table with Hope, a little tired from the dancing. _This wasn't the way the mother-in-law dance was supposed to be_, she thought, as Hope babbled on with a forced brightness about Michel. _She'd seen dozens, maybe hundreds over the decade, _Emily recalled._ No, this wasn't like the other mother-in-law dances. This one was better._


End file.
